The Peyton Anderson Foundation is awarding over $4 million in place-based project grants to 11 organizations, with the largest grant being $3 million to Mercer University for creating a new undergraduate science building to accommodate the growing demand for collaborative research.

Other organizations and projects to receive the latest announcement of grant funding from the Peyton Anderson Foundation are  

-OneMacon!: The grant provides support towards implementing a comprehensive and inclusive economic and community development strategic plan grounded in broad community input and led by an implementation committee of over 40 partner organizations. The Community Foundation of Central Georgia will administer the funding.

-The Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition: The all-volunteer organization made up of prostate cancer survivors will use funds to continue to host support meetings, provide awareness collateral and provide free screenings in 2017 to low-income residents.

-Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia: Funding will be used for “Project SHE WILL” at Camp Martha Johnston to make essential repairs and upgrades to the camp’s facilities. The facilities host more than 500 girls each year, as well as training and conferences for volunteers and staff.

-Historic Macon Foundation: Funds match an anonymous donor’s pledge to relocate the Historic Macon Foundation headquarters from the Sidney Lanier Cottage to 338 Poplar Street. The preservation and rehabilitation of a formerly endangered building will benefit Downtown Macon and better reflect the Historic Macon Foundation’s nationally recognized work in preservation and downtown revitalization.

-Leadership Macon: Funding goes directly to the Leadership Macon Class of 2016 project to extend the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail connecting Amerson River Park and Riverside Cemetery, including bridge construction over the large gulley currently separating the two trail sections. The Foundation’s grant fulfills $25,000 of $95,000 needed to complete the class project.

-Macon Arts Alliance: The grant will be utilized to bring the Mill Hill Community Arts Center back to life, outfitting the interior with the needed amenities for community collaboration, revenue-generating activities and long-term sustainability of the space to catalyze further investment in the broader Mill Hill project.

-Macon Outreach at Mulberry: Funding will be directly invested in maintaining the food program. Macon Outreach currently prepares 55,000 hot meals each year for the homeless and working poor of Macon.

-Middle Georgia Community Food Bank: The challenge grant will assist the Food Bank to expand the cold storage space needed for perishable food storage. The new cooler will be 2,837 square feet and the freezer will be 2,916 square feet to accommodate families, children and seniors in need within a 24 county service area.

-United Way of Central Georgia: The challenge grant provides continued support to United Way’s Read2Succeed tutoring initiative and the AARP Experience Corps tutoring in seven Bibb County schools.

-Georgia Historical Society: Although based in Savannah, the independent statewide institution will launch the pilot program “Live from the Archives: Georgia in the American Revolution,” in Bibb County schools. The pilot program is series of innovative, educational programs designed for students, teachers and the general public. It will focus on Georgia in the American Revolutionary War Era and include virtual field trips for eighth grade students and primary source traveling trunks for participating schools.

The Peyton Anderson Foundation accepts grant applications year-round from non-profit organizations whose funding needs fall in the areas of education, health, nature, arts and culture and civic and economic development. Selected grant recipients are announced twice a year. The latest round of recipients brings the Peyton Anderson Foundation’s investment to $90 million in placed-based grant funding.

“Since its inception, the primary focus of the Peyton Anderson Foundation has been on contributing the wellbeing of the Macon community,” said Peyton Anderson Foundation President Karen Lambert. “The Foundation and its Trustees are pleased to honor Peyton Anderson’s legacy with our latest announcement of grants that will continue to inspire and transform our sense of place, quality of life and future generations.”