The Peyton Anderson Foundation announces its latest round of grant recipients, where community organizations will receive $1.5 million towards place-based initiatives that benefit human services and community and workforce development. In addition to the latest grants announcement, the Peyton Anderson Foundation is marking its 30^th year in philanthropy by launching a community-driven contest created to encourage public engagement and reward the efforts of good-doers.

In 1989, The Peyton Anderson Foundation was formed to distribute funds from the estate of Peyton T. Anderson, Jr., based on his desire to improve and impact the communities of his hometown region.

“The money I have is not mine. It’s not mine because this money was made in the community, and it was made because the community flourished,” the late Peyton Anderson said. “Therefore, I was able to flourish and this money rightfully should go back into the well-being of the community.”

His instructions were simple: give to “good-doers,” instead of “do-gooders.”

Today, the Peyton Anderson Foundation carries out these wishes and serves as a lasting memorial to a man whose goodwill lives on long after him, investing nearly $105 million in Central Georgia and touching the lives of thousands of our residents.

In celebration of our 30th Anniversary, the Peyton Anderson Foundation has issued a summer challenge to the community to be a “good-doer” and perform 30 days of service and community engagement.

The Peyton Anderson Foundation 30-Day Challenge takes place from July 1 through July 30, 2019. Three completed entries will be randomly selected and winning entries will be awarded $3,000 each ($9,000 total) to a charity of their choice. A bonus grand prize for the charity of choice will be awarded to one of the three winners, based on the quality of the entry. Winners will be announced on August 5, 2019.

To participate in the Peyton Anderson Foundation 30-Day Challenge, a completed entry and signed pledge must be received by the Foundation before August 1, 2019. The entry form is available on PeytonAnderson.org, with hardcopies available at local Downtown Macon businesses, as well as inserted in the Telegraph on Sunday, June 30 and Wednesday, July 3.  Completed entries and inquiries can be emailed to the Foundation at [email protected].

The Peyton Anderson Foundation 30-Day Challenge coincides with the announcement of the community’s most recent grant recipients from the Foundation.

Central Georgia Technical College: A grant of $630,000 was awarded to the Central Georgia Technical College Workforce Initiative to provide a long-term, sustainable impact in creating qualified, skilled labor in the field of aviation. The Peyton Anderson Foundation is partnering with the Charles H. Jones Family Foundation to support this program over the next three years.

“The College is elated to receive this support from the Peyton Anderson Foundation and the Jones Foundation to grow and strengthen our aerospace technology programs,” said Dr. Ivan H. Allen, president of CGTC. “Our high-demand training programs in aerospace are critical to the local economy, and this generous gift will position CGTC to enhance access and opportunities for citizens throughout Macon-Bibb and the central Georgia region. Additionally, this grant award is another example of how Macon-Bibb community leaders are committed to fostering a well-trained, qualified talent pool to meet the workforce needs of local industries.”

Other organizations and projects to receive funding in the latest round of grants from the Peyton Anderson Foundation are:

• Depaul USA, Inc.’s Daybreak: Funding of $500,000 will support the construction and associated costs for the Depaul USA Health and Housing Building. The Health and Housing Building will be built on land adjacent to the Daybreak program and will be deeded to Depaul USA by the Macon Bibb County Urban Development Authority.

• First Choice Primary Care: A Challenge Grant of $150,000 will go towards the renovation of First Choice Primary’s new office located at 400 Poplar Street. The new site will house their medical services and administrative staff from the Walnut Street location, as well as the Health Department site.

• Macon Arts Alliance: $25,000 was awarded to provide program support for the Mill Hill Community Center. Macon Arts Alliance and Macon-Bibb County addressed the economic decline in the Mill Hill Neighborhood by renovating the Community Center and creating an Artist Village with surrounding homes.  (cont.)

• Macon Regional Crimestoppers: Funding of $100,000 will assist Crimestoppers’ focus on removing violent criminals from our community, cleaning up areas that are engaging in illegal activity and community engagement. This grant will be dedicated to Crimestoppers’ three-year community initiative, "Top 15 Most Wanted."

• Mentors Project of Bibb County: Funding of $15,000 will provide program support that includes mentoring, food, clothing, transportation, housing assistance and school supplies. Monthly programs will focus on financial literacy, college and career readiness, communication and interviewing skills, as well as an academic summer program and teen pregnancy prevention.

• Orange Duffel Bag Initiative (ODBI): Funding of $14,000 will assist the ODBI / GEAR UP Georgia program in guiding Bibb County high school students, who are homeless or in foster care, to create education/life plans, a result of the transformational change process students experience during the course.

• Macon AIM: Funding of $25,000 will assist Macon AIM, an initiative of the Peyton Anderson Foundation, to serve local low-income families more holistically, track outcomes and provide streamlined sustainable solutions to support children (from birth to five-years-of-age) and their families, empowering them for early childhood success. This grant will allow Macon AIM to hire a social worker to more effectively and efficiently serve clients, seek sustainable funding opportunities and build community awareness.

The Peyton Anderson Foundation accepts grant applications twice a year on April 1st and August 1st from non-profit organizations whose funding needs fall in the areas of education, health, environment, 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 nearly $105 million in placed-based grant funding.

“Thirty years ago, Peyton Anderson entrusted his estate to continue his passion for empowering others through service and community engagement,” said Karen Lambert, President of the Peyton Anderson Foundation. “We are celebrating that lasting wish and legacy through our latest grants and creating an opportunity to do exactly what Mr. Anderson intended when he simply said reward ‘good-doers’. This summer, we look forward to the submissions of those who step up to the 30-Day Challenge and pay their own service forward.”