On Wednesday May 14th at the Homer E. Wright Event Center, FOLSOI accepted a grant from St James Service Club. Cindy Phillips (FOLSOI President) attended the brunch with fellow board members, Karen Bearslee Kwasny (vice-President) and Mary Gretton (Treasurer).
What an amazing event, as FOLSOI was one of 31 worthy organizations receiving a grant. It was humbling to hear all the good work non-profits are doing in Brunswick County. The St James Service Club gave away over $145,000 in grants, which might be the highest amount ever by this generous organization.
Our grant of $3,600 will go to both branches to supplement funding for the Summer Reading, specifically to enable live performers as part of the program. The objective of the program is to increase the reading time of children in the Southport and Oak Island communities during the summer months. Children and Teens are encouraged to keep logs of minutes read to earn rewards and prizes. In 2024, the Harper and Barbee Summer Reading participants totaled 280 children who logged over 88,000 minutes of reading.
We are lucky to have such community support from partners like the St James Service Club!
Photo – Debbie Little and Cindy Phillips
What a GREAT way to prevent the summer slide! Thank you FOLSOI and the St. James Service Club!!