Originally published in the Augusta Chronicle. 
By Lisa Kaylor

Area children and others in need will reap the benefits from Augusta’s largest tailgate party.

The Border Bash Foundation distributed money it raised during Border Bash 2012 to representatives of 17 charities at Beasley Broadcast Studios on Friday.

For 19 years, the Border Bash Foundation has distributed nearly $700,000 to charities and expects to top $750,000 for its 20th anniversary next year, said Joel Simmons, the president of the Georgia Bulldog Club.

As they received their checks, representatives told board members of the Georgia Bulldog Club and the Augusta Gamecock Club exactly how the money would help their organization.

Several charities will help families of children who are being treated in area hospitals.

Joe Stevenson, the director of the 12 Bands of Christmas, said his organization will use the money to assist families of children who have pediatric cancer.

“Basically … not only do we bring music to the patients at the hospital, but we get requests from the families through the hospital social worker for power bills, mortgage payments – just immediate needs they can’t quite pay for while their child is being treated at the (Medical College of Georgia) Children’s Medical Center,” he said.

Others, such as Girls on the Run and the Georgia-Carolina Council of the Boys Scouts of America, will use the funding to provide scholarships for children who ordinarily could not afford to participate in their programs.

Still others will use the money to help children cope with and heal from traumatic experiences.

“One of the children we helped this year was last year actually being locked in a closet. He spent the year being afraid and scared,” said Margaret Ford, the executive director of The Children’s Place Inc. “This year, we’ve been able to help him not be afraid anymore. This money will actually go directly into our therapy. Thank you very much.”

Other recipients were the Boys & Girls Clubs of the CSRA, the Center for New Beginnings, Child Enrichment, the Child and Family Development Center, the Community Foundation of the CSRA, Easter Seals of East Georgia, the Children’s Medical Center, Golden Harvest Food Bank, Julie’s House, Kids Restart, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Storyland Theatre and the United Way of the CSRA.

The Border Bash is an annual pep rally featuring cheerleaders, mascots and live music held before the Georgia-South Carolina college football game.

2012 RECIPIENTS
These charities received money raised during Border Bash 2012:
• 12 Bands of Christmas
• Georgia-Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America
• Boys & Girls Club of the CSRA
• Center for New Beginnings
• Child Enrichment
• Children’s Place Inc.
• Child and Family Development Center
• Community Foundation of the CSRA
• Easter Seals of East Georgia
• GHSU Children’s Medical Center
• Girls on the Run
• Golden Harvest Food Bank
• Julie’s House
• Kids Restart
• Ronald McDonald House
• Storyland Theatre
• United Way of the CSRA

Originally published in the Augusta Chronicle
By Meg Mirshak

A passenger van, a job skills coach, scholarship money and arts programming were among the gifts funded by community grants awarded Friday.

Forty nonprofit organizations and area service agencies received a share of $475,000 from the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area. The foundation, whose Unrestricted Grant Fund is primarily funded by the Masters Tournament, has given to nonprofit groups since 1996.

This year, the recipients included Child Enrichment Inc., Broad Street Ministry, Friendship Community Center and Julie’s House Inc.

Compass Youth Mentoring, a group that works with east Augusta elementary and middle school pupils filtering into Laney High School, received a $10,460 grant to purchase a passenger van.

The van will haul children from the program’s current meeting place at River Glen Apartments to May Park Community Center, program director John Williams said.

The grant applications were reviewed by 20 volunteer panels consisting of 140 area leaders.

They visited the agencies, reviewed applications and made recommendations from the 122 grant proposals.

Lee Smith, the president and CEO of the Community Foundation, said the grant recipients represent small and large nonprofits. Some grant winners were lesser-known organizations that fill a substantial community need.

“We are looking for pressing and changing needs throughout the community,” Smith said. “Our panels do such a magnificent job on their site visits determining who, this year, will give the most impact to this community.”

Hope House, a residential treatment facility for women who suffer from substance abuse and mental health disorders, will use a $10,460 grant to hire and train a job-skills coach.

“This person will work directly with our case manager and directly with employers in the community,” said Karen Saltzman, the executive director of Hope House.

A $9,295 grant was awarded to When Help Can’t Wait, a volunteer organization that donates toiletries, clothing, hearing aids and other items to nursing home residents on Medicare or Medicaid and without family.

“We act as a surrogate family, and we take them all those simple, convenient things that you and I take for granted,” said Helen McVicker, the group’s president.

With the grant, When Help Can’t Wait will expand its thrift store, where it sells items to generate revenue to purchase items for nursing home residents.

Julie's House was one of the 40 awardees 

Julie’s House Inc.:
A $12,000 grant for the continued provision of a shelter and other necessities to homeless women and their children, giving them the opportunity to further their education, acquire job skills and seek employment so they can become independent and self-sufficient.