2024 Impact Report by North Carolina Community Foundation

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES

2024 Impact Report

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER

At the North Carolina Community Foundation, our mission is to inspire North Carolinians to make lasting and meaningful contributions to their communities. We do that by bringing together generous people and connecting them to causes and organizations they care about.

We serve the entire state, with a focus on rural North Carolina, and we believe in the power of permanent philanthropy to strengthen communities and people.

COUNTIES SERVED BY NCCF NETWORK

NCCF’s donors and grants span the entire state.

By stewarding and growing donors’ gifts, we make a powerful impact through robust grants and scholarships programs, awarding nearly $323 million since 1988. More than 1,300 endowments have been established at NCCF, making a significant contribution to our communities.

Throughout this report you’ll find stories of generosity in action – just a small sample of the impact we make together to strengthen our communities.

GENEROSITY IN ACTION

Improving Local Emergency Services for 25 Years

Jim Gray and his wife, Dorothy, were living in Oriental in 1999 when they traveled to the Bahamas for their daughter’s wedding.

While there, Dorothy suffered a stroke. The closest hospital was on another island. The journey of more than 30 miles was too long, and Dorothy did not survive.

Jim Gray realized the same challenges with emergency response time existed in southeast Pamlico County, and he had a desire to strengthen his community. Gray contacted NCCF and started the Dottie Gray Ambulance Fund with $5,000 donated by family and friends.

In the 25 years since its creation, the endowment has grown through donations and prudent investment at NCCF. It has provided more than $180,000 in grants to buy emergency equipment and helped pay for an ambulance to be stationed at the volunteer fire department in Oriental.

Eric Kindle, a paramedic for Pamlico Rescue and chief of the Southeast Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department, estimates the fund has saved dozens of lives.

“Having this equipment over the years, it might not be used every day, but over the course of a decade-plus, it adds up,” he said.

Watch: Learn more about how the Dottie Gray Ambulance Fund started and the impact it has made.

Addressing Youth Mental Health

An idea, a phone call and a desire to help save young lives led to a new endowment at NCCF to support children’s mental health.

Onslow County resident and Sneads Ferry Rotary Club member Phil Work was reading an article about how suicide had become the leading cause of death among Colorado adolescents since the COVID-19 pandemic. A Rotary Club there was raising funds to train new mental health clinicians at a local children’s hospital, and Work was inspired to do something similar to strengthen his community.

He called his friend Dawn Rochelle, the CEO of One Place, a nonprofit child advocacy center in Jacksonville. Work learned One Place could also benefit from hiring more mental health clinicians, and Rochelle suggested that NCCF may be able to help. There was already a connection between the two organizations: One Place Chief Advancement Officer Ann Marie Raymond is the treasurer for the Onslow Caring Communities Foundation, an NCCF affiliate.

The One Place Child and Adolescent Mental Health Endowment was created at NCCF in 2024. The goal is to grow the endowment to $1 million so One Place can fund two mental health clinicians annually.

“We’re not creating a service that isn’t needed. In the child advocacy center at any given time, we can have up to 900 children that are in need of mental health services,” said Rochelle. “You always look for legacy, and you always look for the legs to the legacy. With this partnership [with NCCF], the work really does live past us.”

Watch: Learn more about One Place and the goals of the endowment.

A Succession Plan of Local Giving

Frances Sue Fitzgerald was a respected Madison County resident who quietly strengthened her community. She spent decades in ministry in Madison County through a countywide program helping people in need, as a hospice chaplain and as a pastor at Mars Hill Baptist Church.

She started the Fran’s Helping Hand Endowment with NCCF in 2002 with the goal of quietly supporting Madison County nonprofit organizations and churches. Since then, the fund has distributed 23 grants to nonprofits and churches. Consistent with her nature, Fitzgerald’s efforts remained anonymous until she passed away in 2024 at age 93.

To plan for the fund’s future, she chose the Madison County Community Foundation, an NCCF affiliate, to advise the Fran’s Helping Hand Endowment after her death.

In November, after Hurricane Helene, the MCCF board awarded grants of $2,765 to Beacon of Hope and Community Housing Coalition of Madison County.

“Where we can make an impact is with helping these organizations sustain themselves,” said MCCF advisory board president Bud Christman, who believes reaching out to those most in need is what Fitzgerald had in mind when she created Fran’s Helping Hand. “Her heart’s desire was to make a meaningful impact.”

Giving Back With Help From NCCF’s Duplin County Affiliate

Clayton Smith and his wife, Judith, grew up in families dedicated to helping others. Their desire to strengthen their community together continued even when they faced devastating news.

After a career assisting domestic violence survivors across the world, Judith was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2020. Clayton wanted to continue to help the causes that were important to Judith while also honoring his family. His parents raised five children in Duplin County, who faced the challenges of segregation as young Black people. All went on to graduate college.

Clayton contacted his sister, Debra Morrisey, who is the Vice President of the Duplin County Community Foundation, an NCCF affiliate. Shortly before Judith passed away, they created Family Cooperative, a donor advised fund at NCCF that supports youth education, animal welfare, domestic violence victims, and services for seniors in Duplin County and Belize, where Judith had volunteered later in her life.

Since 2022, the fund has awarded more than $20,000 to nonprofits, including support for annual grants awarded by the Duplin County Community Foundation.

“Our family has always helped each other help the community,” said Clayton. “That’s the reason I focus on Duplin County.”

Watch: Learn more about the Family Cooperative Fund and the Smith family.

From Memorial to Legacy

When Jamie Kirk Hahn was murdered in 2013, her family and friends were devastated by her death and sought ways to express their deep grief and honor her life of service.

They came together to form the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation with the goal of honoring Jamie’s legacy by convening, connecting and developing emerging leaders.

In 2018, they transitioned the foundation to become a donor advised fund at NCCF. The final grants from the fund were made in 2024 as Jamie’s family recognized how they honored her memory was again evolving.

While they were with NCCF, more than $144,000 was provided to mostly Triangle-area nonprofits that seek to make a difference on the issues Jamie, a political strategist and fundraiser, cared about.

Three nonprofits were the main beneficiaries of the grant funding: Hope Center at Pullen, Inter-faith Food Shuttle and Raleigh City Farm.

“We’ve made a critical investment in three organizations that are really at a critical moment,” said Nation Hahn, Jamie’s husband. “That is the best tribute to her.”

Nation hopes that people will consider giving to the nonprofits that the fund supported and the causes that Jamie held dear. However, Nation said, what Jamie would want most is for people to support causes that are important to them.

“We have an obligation to contribute to the betterment of society for everyone,” he said.

Creating an Endowment to Honor a Beloved Woman

Dr. Carmaleta Monteith has dedicated much of her life to supporting the people of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Monteith is an EBCI Beloved Woman, the highest honor a Cherokee woman can receive as recognition for demonstrating Cherokee core values. Since 2006, she has played a pivotal role in the Cherokee Indian Hospital Foundation.

In 2024, CIHF honored Monteith by establishing an endowment at NCCF to provide ongoing support for employees of the hospital and its clinics.

The endowment will offer scholarships and financial aid to hospital employees aspiring to excel in the medical profession and is dedicated to serving and supporting the educational endeavors of Tribal members and hospital employees who serve Tribal members.

Monteith and the hospital foundation have an ambitious goal of raising $1 million for the agency endowment. This type of fund is established at NCCF to provide a reliable source of funding for a nonprofit organization.

“Carmaleta has spent her 89 years on earth living a life of exemplary service,” said Brittney Lofthouse, Executive Director of Development & Community Relations for CIHF. “She is a waymaker. A creator. A visionary. And she does it all with a fervent love and passion for the Cherokee people.”

For One Nonprofit, the Gift of Knowing

Funding

Is There

For the team at the Methodist Home for Children, receiving an annual grant from the Louise Oriole Burevitch Endowment at NCCF provides inspiration and validation of their important work.

MHC is a child welfare organization that provides mental health services and safe, stable homes where children can thrive and live to their full potential.

Burevitch supported Methodist Home for Children during her lifetime and designated permanent support to the organization through her estate. Since the Burevitch endowment was established in 2015, MHC has received $209,000 in grant funding, including $22,000 in 2024.

MHC has combined the endowment money with other funding for four psychological crisis assessment centers, transitional living homes for youth who are coming out of youth prisons and an early childhood center in a Raleigh affordable housing community.

“There’s nothing that inspires our staff and enables our work like the certitude that people have already made provision and that the forward funding is there,” said Bruce Stanley, MHC’s President and CEO, who met Burevitch before she passed away in 2014. “She had always loved children, and she wanted to make sure that the resources that she had were used to take care of children going forward.”

In 2024, the endowment awarded more than $1 million to nonprofits, serving eastern NC. In total, the Burevitch endowment has strengthened communities by awarding more than $9 million.

Giving Circles Make Philanthropy Accessible

NCCF’s women’s giving circles show the power of generous people coming together.

Instead of one person creating an endowment, giving circles amplify the impact of individual donations by pooling less costly annual membership dues and aggregating those funds to award grants to charitable organizations.

In 2024, the Women’s Giving Network of Wake County, one of NCCF’s six women’s giving circles, awarded $105,000 to three nonprofits serving women and families in Wake County: NAMI of Wake County; Wake Education Partnership; and the No Woman, No Girl Initiative.

In recent years, NCCF’s giving circles have strengthened communities by awarding nearly $200,000 in grants annually to organizations that support local women, children and families. WGN has given more than $1.9 million since 2006.

“If I were to make an individual gift to an organization, it would be meaningful, but when I join with 90 other women, and we’re able to combine our donations or our giving, we’re able to drive a lot more impact,” said Sarah Décarpentrie, WGN’s grants committee chair.

WATCH: Learn more about women’s giving circles at NCCF.

Full Circle: The Impact of NCCF Scholarships

NCCF scholarships not only change recipients’ lives but also create a legacy of community giving.

Garrett Lane and Katie Crumpler are two former scholarship recipients who benefited from the generosity of NCCF donors. Now, years later, they work with NCCF and our affiliates to strengthen communities by providing the same opportunities they received.

In 2017 and 2018, Lane was awarded the Bill Taylor Memorial Scholarship to pursue his master’s degree in accounting at Western Carolina University. Now a Certified Public Accountant, Lane works as an assistant controller at Cherokee Indian Hospital. In 2024, he became an advisory board member of the Eastern Band of Cherokees Community Foundation, an NCCF affiliate and the very board that oversees the scholarship Lane received.

In 2005, Crumpler received NCCF’s F.H. “Sammy” Ross Jr. Scholarship (now called the F.H. “Sammy” Ross Jr. and Gary “GJ” Johnston Memorial Scholarship) as an undergrad at UNC-Greensboro. Crumpler has been part of the NCCF staff team for a decade. She has championed scholarship programs, drawing on her own past to guide students through the application process.

“We inspire people across the state to give back to their community,” Crumpler said. “The meaningful contribution made in my community has led to my work. I’m so grateful to be a part of that.”

GARRETT LANE AND FAMILY

KATIE CRUMPLER AND FAMILY

Philanthropy Born From Tragedy

George and Michelle Ligon were well-respected and generous Watauga County residents who deeply loved their community.

In 2021, the community was shocked and saddened when George, Michelle and two sheriff’s deputies were killed by Michelle’s son, who was struggling with mental illness and ultimately killed himself.

George and Michelle regularly gave money to the local nonprofit Quiet Givers, which accepts anonymous donations to support needs of other nonprofits, schools and community organizations in Watauga, Ashe and Avery counties.

To continue the Ligons’ philanthropic legacy and love for their community, George’s three surviving siblings set up the George and Michelle Ligon Scholarship Endowment at NCCF in 2024. The fund will support graduating seniors from Watauga High School who plan to attend a two- or four-year college or a trade school. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2025.

“We wanted to bring something positive, something that would bear fruit through all the tragedy,” said George’s sister Lucy Heffelfinger. “I think he would be really thrilled that their giving is not going to end.”

GEORGE, RIGHT, WITH HIS SIBLINGS

MICHELLE AND GEORGE WITH MICHELLE’S DAUGHTER

MICHELLE AND GEORGE

Strengthening the Community You Came From

George W. Andrews never forgot his modest upbringing in Montgomery County during the Great Depression. Even after he became President and CEO of Keco Industries in Cincinnati, Andrews would regularly bring his family on vacation to the farm he grew up on in Mt. Gilead.

In 2006, four years before he passed away, Andrews focused on helping the youth of his hometown, creating a legacy. He worked with NCCF to create the George W. Andrews Scholarship Endowment, providing annual scholarships of $4,000 to $8,000 to graduating seniors of Montgomery County public high schools.

The scholarships can be renewed for three additional years of college, providing nearly $550,000 in scholarships to 45 Montgomery County students to date. Renewable scholarships help ensure students have the support they need to complete their degrees.

“Not only are we looking for the best and the brightest, but we also want to help those who are in some type of financial need and prioritize those,” said scholarship administrator Will Carpenter, who also serves as Vice President of NCCF’s Montgomery County affiliate.

More Scholarships, More Impact

The Raleigh Alumnae Chapter – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., established an endowment in 1999 through NCCF to provide college scholarships for students in their programs.

Although the fund has awarded $243,000 to more than 100 students since 2006, community members asked for more.

The chapter responded in 2023 with a second NCCF endowment, created to award scholarships to nontraditional students who did not attend or finish college and plan to attend a college, university or technical certification program. Special consideration is given to Black women over age 30.

In 2024, the original scholarship provided a total of $13,000 to five students and the new fund awarded its first scholarships, with $1,500 scholarships going to Shaquela Pate and Jennelle Stallings.

Pate grew up in a home marked by childhood trauma, which has been a catalyst in shaping her drive to succeed. She is attending Shaw University and aspires to be a social worker, specializing in mental health and trauma-informed care.

Stallings attended Elizabeth City State University virtually, allowing her to balance work and school. In December, she received her degree in interdisciplinary studies, which will help her advance in her work at United Healthcare.

Leaders of the Raleigh Alumnae Chapter say working with NCCF to administer the scholarships has been an inspiring process. Lillian M. Davis, Chapter President of Raleigh Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., said working with NCCF has “given us the opportunity to build different partnerships and enhanced our ability to serve.”

SCHOLARSHIPS IN 2024

$1.5M In scholarships awarded 360 Students who received scholarships $1.3M

Scholarship funds going to NC institutions of higher education 92

Scholars who are first-generation college students 54

NC colleges and universities attended, including 15 community colleges

Data do not include designated scholarships that identify an organization to conduct the scholarship selection process.

NCCF partners with donors to administer scholarship funds for students across the state. All of our scholarship opportunities are established through specific funds created at NCCF with criteria determined by the donor. A sampling of our scholars is below.

Carlos Andrade Chavez

• Recipient of the Tom and Freida Johnson Scholarship

• Studying health science at Catawba Valley Community College

• Graduate of Bunker Hill High School

Carter Burchfield

• Recipient of the Grayce Wills MacDonald and Ivan A. MacDonald Scholarship and the Laura Phillips Memorial Scholarship

• Pursuing a nursing degree at Western Carolina University

• Graduate of Robbinsville High School

Hannah Joyner

• Recipient of the M.C. Ashe Family Scholarship

• Studying fine arts with a specialty in art education at Spelman College

• Graduate of Hertford County Early College High School

Jaden Alston

• Recipient of the McBryde Scholarship

• Majoring in nursing at East Carolina University

• Graduate of Edgecombe Early College High School

Josiah Johnson

• Recipient of the Russell Glenwood Baldwin Scholarship

• Studying computer science at Winston-Salem State University

• Graduate of West Brunswick High School

Julia Santos Herman

• Recipient of the Sammy and Shirley Church Scholarship

• Studying psychology and minoring in chemistry at Duke University

• Graduate of Ashe County High School

Kaiya Keyes

• Recipient of the Katie Dunn Rogers Scholarship

• Studying finance at Hampton University

• Graduate of Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy

SUPPORTING WESTERN NC AFTER HURRICANE HELENE

At NCCF, we remain heartbroken about the loss of life and devastation in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene in September. The storm was the deadliest and most costly in our state’s history.

But the NCCF team, our fundholders and our network were determined to support western NC.

Immediately, NCCF collaborated with other community foundations, funders and organizations that serve western NC, promoted opportunities to assist with immediate response, and activated the NCCF Disaster Relief Fund. The fund supports eligible charitable organizations or government entities addressing long-term recovery, unmet needs and future preparedness after a disaster.

In 2024, the NCCF Disaster Relief Fund received $28.5 million in donations, including a $7.5 million gift from Lilly Endowment Inc. and $15.5 million contributed through the state’s Disaster Relief Fund. More than 7,100 donations came from all 50 states, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The volume of donations highlighted the generosity of many individuals, from children in New York holding a bake sale to the organizers of October’s Concert for Carolina in Charlotte.

The concert, headlined by performers Eric Church and Luke Combs, raised millions for several organizations that support disaster relief. Although NCCF was not one of those organizations, the NCCF Disaster Relief Fund was featured on the concert website and during the show and live stream, raising $228,000 during the concert weekend alone for the fund.

The fund has also received support from other generous entertainers and corporate partners. Numerous artists held benefit concerts. Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, a western North Carolina native, brought in thousands of dollars in donations from Washington state by promoting the fund. Clothing retailer Peter Millar created a limited-edition quarter-zip, with proceeds from the sale raising $75,000 for the fund.

Other foundations across North Carolina and the country – from Houston to Harrisonburg, Va., and from Boston to Birmingham – also gave generously. We are honored by the trust placed in NCCF to administer this fund.

In addition to the Disaster Relief Fund, NCCF provided other methods of support for western NC communities:

• Our fundholders put generosity into action, making 121 grants from their NCCF donor advised funds. More than $965,000 was provided in 2024 to dozens of charitable organizations supporting housing, health, food security, education, the environment and more.

• Knowing it would be difficult for our 17 western affiliate foundations to conduct their annual gift drive in their communities, a generous NCCF supporter donated the amount raised during the 2023 campaign to each western affiliate.

• We provided flexibility to nonprofits in western NC, allowing grant recipients from our western affiliates to repurpose funding awarded for specific programs or projects and use that money to best meet community needs.

• We began efforts to support students whose ability to pay for higher education was hampered by Helene. NCCF’s Disaster Relief and Resilience Scholarship will award scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year.

“No one ever thought that western North Carolina would have this type of disaster,” said Gwen Clark, grants chair of the Avery Community Foundation, an NCCF affiliate. “The generosity of people through philanthropy and NCCF at the state and local levels, to be able to have those dollars to use in our community to keep things going is going to be key.”

Grantmaking from the Disaster Relief Fund began in early 2025 and will occur over the next several years.

WATCH: Learn more about how Hurricane Helene impacted Avery County and the recovery efforts in the months after the storm.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA HILTY

Number

Emergency and fire services in

Food boxes for HeadStart families in

County Replacement of a 33-year-old grease trap at the Lenoir Soup Kitchen in Caldwell County

Substance-use disorder support for Catawba Valley women

Swain County

Music discovery for Ashe County preschoolers

Jackson

Breastfeeding support and a breast pump rental program at a Nash County hospital

Help for Wake County teachers renewing national board certifications

Affordable medication for low-income seniors in Durham County

Outdoor adventure and environmental camps in the Northern Albemarle community (Camden, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties)

A new kitchen stove at the Soup Kitchen of Wilson County

Outer Banks Cancer Center in Dare County

Health care for uninsured patients in Moore County

LGBTQ Center of the Cape Fear Coast in New Hanover County

STEM education for middle school girls in Lenoir County

Emergency needs

elderly residents in Craven County

WHAT WE VALUE

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP STEWARDSHIP

Our values serve as a guidepost in our work. They are grounded in our founding vision of supporting rural philanthropy. They are reflective of our mission. And they are aspirational in guiding us on what our work can and should be. Together, we are strengthening our communities today and for generations to come.

Reflecting Our Values in 2024

COMMUNITY

We strive to uplift the well-being of all North Carolinians. Throughout our work, we value varying viewpoints. We believe diverse voices, engagement and participation are essential in building and sustaining thriving communities.

• Our affiliates are our roots in communities, with advisory boards made up of community leaders. They understand local challenges and opportunities and make grants to address them.

• In 2024, our affiliates enhanced board recruitment to better reflect their communities.

• Our affiliates and giving circles hosted local gatherings to connect nonprofits, fundholders and others.

PARTNERSHIP

We believe in the transformative power of collaboration to meet shared objectives. We focus on rural North Carolina and bring an understanding of North Carolina’s rural communities to donors. We encourage and celebrate teamwork, leverage expertise and resources, and communicate openly. Through trust and evolving partnerships, we achieve collective impact that is otherwise not possible.

• In 2024, we improved our grant and scholarship applications based on feedback from nonprofits and students.

• Our long-standing partnerships with professional advisors allow us to work with donors to strengthen communities.

• Our Hurricane Helene response reflects the strength that comes when we build trust and prioritize collaboration.

• Our Community Needs Assessments guide our philanthropic network on the most pressing needs in our communities.

STEWARDSHIP

We help our donors and fundholders reach their goals and build philanthropic legacies that will support communities and causes now and in the future. We exercise honesty, integrity and responsible care in the management of the funds entrusted to us.

• Prudent investment stewardship is vital for building long-term charitable assets that benefit our communities.

• Our disciplined and balanced investment strategy, managed by professional asset managers, ensures the long-term returns needed to achieve our collective philanthropic goals. This enables our endowed funds to grow and make annual grants forever.

We are grateful for the trust you place in us. We will continue to honor that trust in support of our mission: to inspire North Carolinians to make lasting and meaningful contributions to their communities.