The Community Foundation of Central Georgia (CFCG) has awarded more than $350,000 in grants to 21 nonprofit organizations through the fall 2026 cycle of its Nonprofit Grant Program.

The grants were announced Thursday, Oct. 8, at a celebration held at Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia, one of this cycle’s grant recipients. CFCG staff and board members, nonprofit leaders, and community partners gathered to recognize organizations meeting needs across the region.

Darius Maynard, CFCG’s Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives, opened his remarks with a story from the day before. At a Macon Cares community gathering at the Harriet Tubman Museum, a speaker shared why she believes some young people turn to guns: they are focused on surviving today, not on a future they cannot see.

“Those words stuck with me,” Maynard said. “I think about kids who are sleeping on the floor, who can’t dream about their future because they’re worried about where they’ll lay their heads tonight. I think about kids who’ve had adults walk out of their lives and are just trying to get through the day. And I think about kids who are hungry. Have you ever tried to make a major decision when your stomach is louder than your mind? It is tough.”

“If there is one message I can leave with you, it is this: continue to be the bridge between surviving and thriving for this community,” Maynard said. “Together, as one community, you have the capacity and the resources to help people see there is a future in store for them.”

This cycle’s grants answer many of the needs Maynard named. Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s Macon chapter will build and deliver beds for local children who do not have one. Eight grants support mentoring, advocacy, and youth leadership, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Heart of Georgia, Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, and Central Georgia CASA, which will train 40 new volunteer advocates for children in the foster care system. Meals on Wheels of Middle Georgia will work to shorten its waiting list of homebound seniors, and Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Upson County will open a rural food pantry.

Other grants will help Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia build a 56-bed transitional home for men, support Depaul USA’s day center and health clinic for people experiencing homelessness, provide emergency financial help to survivors of domestic violence through Crisis Line & Safe House of Central Georgia, and turn an underused alley in downtown Eastman into a shaded public walkway. A $22,000 matching grant to the Leadership Macon Endowment Fund will match new gifts to the Leadership Macon Class of 2026’s Leadership Legacy Project dollar for dollar through Oct. 29. (See Full List of Grants Below)

“Our Nonprofit Grant Program is funded by donors who have left gifts to the Community Foundation since 1993, trusting our board to know where the greatest needs and opportunities are,” said Julia Wood, Senior Vice President of Development and Donor Services. “It is an honor to use those resources wisely to make a difference in our community.”

The Nonprofit Grant Program funds organizations addressing key priorities across CFCG’s 21- county service area. This cycle’s grants reach Bibb, Baldwin, Dodge, Houston, Monroe, and Upson counties, among others. CFCG Grants Committee Chair Cass Hatcher announced this cycle’s recipients at the event.

Since its founding in 1993, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia has awarded more than $100 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, schools, and faith-based initiatives across Central Georgia.