Select institutions in Carolinas receive $110 million

July 28, 2008–Charlotte, N.C.

Legacy of James B. Duke improves lives across the two states

The Duke Endowment has awarded more than $110 million in grants to enrich lives and strengthen communities across North Carolina and South Carolina. Based in Charlotte, N.C., and established in 1924 by N.C. industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is the largest private foundation in the Carolinas. Its more than 200 new grants from the first half of this year include:

• $16 million to foster excellence through education.
• $23 million to improve health and wellness.
• $13 million to safeguard children and help them develop.
• $8 million to fortify the leadership of faith communities and to reward retired United Methodist ministers and their families for service.

The total also includes a $50 million grant, announced in April, to Duke University School of Medicine to help build a medical education facility and create a "hospital within a hospital" for pediatric patients.

All grantmaking at The Duke Endowment is guided by an Indenture of Trust, in which James B. Duke set forth specific funding guidelines that focused on children, rural churches, health care and higher education in the Carolinas. The Endowment's Trustees, however, have full discretion over year-to-year disbursements. "Our goal is to ensure that Mr. Duke's vision continues to impact the Carolinas in positive ways," said Russell M. Robinson II, chairman of the Endowment's board. "These grants will open food pantries, help children in foster care, provide medical equipment and support scholars. They touch lives in cities and rural areas, in the mountains, the Piedmont and the coast."

Gene Cochrane, the Endowment's president, said the grants will help organizations in the Carolinas use their resources and reach their potential. "The grants showcase innovative ways for churches to serve their neighbors and for health care providers to care for patients," Cochrane said. "They include long-term initiatives that address widespread challenges—and promising new approaches to persistent problems."

Higher Education

The Endowment awarded grants to the four educational institutions named in Mr. Duke's trust: Davidson College, Johnson C. Smith University and Duke University in North Carolina and Furman University in South Carolina. Funds support general university operations, capital projects and special programs that expand educational opportunities. Grants included $500,000 to help the schools in their efforts to become environmentally sustainable campuses.

Health Care

With its health care grants, the Endowment works through hospitals and health care providers to expand preventive and early intervention programs, to improve the quality and safety of services and to increase access to care. A grant of nearly $900,000, for example, was awarded to support the South Carolina Public Health Institute and to expand a perinatal outreach program for Latino families.

Child Care

Through its child care grants, the Endowment aims to serve vulnerable children, helping them reach developmental milestones and prepare for adulthood. Grants included $451,000 to the N.C. Division of Social Services and $275,000 to Children's Home Society of North Carolina to implement Family Finding, a new way to connect relatives to children in foster care.

Rural Church

By supporting rural United Methodist churches and their leaders in North Carolina, the Endowment helps expand church outreach across the region. A $135,000 grant, for instance, went to Clifton United Methodist Church in Warrensville, N.C., to support Farm to Table, a project that helps farmers provide produce for local food pantries.