Duke Energy grants will help free medical clinics, food banks
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After numerous conversations with nonprofits in the Pee Dee, Duke Energy decided to partner with seven free medical clinics and three food programs to provide $140,000 in grants to assist these agencies.
Free medical clinics provide much-needed free medical assistance to low income, uninsured adults who do not have health care benefits. Each of the following free clinics will receive $10,000 from the Duke Energy Foundation: Sumter United Ministries Free Clinic, Helping Hands Free Medical Clinic in Marion, Mercy Medicine Free Clinic in Florence, Free Medical Clinic of Darlington County, Mercy in Me Free Medical Clinic in Cheraw, Community Medical Clinic of Kershaw County and Dillon County Free Medical Clinic.
Food banks provide for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food, distributing millions of healthy meals to families across the region each year. Harvest Hope Food Bank will receive $50,000 to help provide more than 250,000 meals. Harvest Hope will distribute these funds to partner agencies they support in counties across the region. Each agency will have an account set up that it can use to purchase food for its community food bank and distribute accordingly in those more rural communities.
The Lowcountry Food Bank serves the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina and distributed more than 30 million pounds of food in 2018. It will receive $10,000 to distribute fresh produce as part of its feeding programs with eight partner agencies in Duke Energy service areas in Williamsburg, Georgetown and Horry counties.
The United Way of Kershaw County operates the Mobile Nutrition Center, a mobile food pantry that delivers healthy foods to sites in food deserts located in rural Kershaw County. This program directly serves its clients by removing barriers that prevent access to food like transportation and income. It will receive $10,000 to conduct mobile feeding programs in the Bethune and Lugoff areas.
The Duke Energy Foundation annually funds more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations in South Carolina.