Dozens Of Upstate Charities To Get Donations From Bi-Lo

MAULDIN, S.C. (Nov. 20, 2008)— The 25th annual BI-LO Charity Classic golf tournament, held last June, raised a record-breaking $5.6 million dollars.  This Friday, more than $1.7 million will be donated to charities operating in the Upstate of South Carolina.

At Greenville Memorial Hospital at 2 p.m. on Friday, November 21, representatives from more than 60 Upstate non-profit organizations will participate in a mass check presentation.  Each of these charities has been chosen to receive funding from the BI-LO Charity Classic because of their outstanding contribution to one or more of BI-LO Charities’ three key focuses—children, education and hunger relief. 

Charities to participate in Friday’s event offer a variety of essential services to the community.  Grants provided to Upstate organizations will go toward funding projects such as SMART boards to make learning easier for special needs students at the Washington Center and Camperdown Academy in Greenville and a health and wellness program at Westside Community Center in Anderson. 

Upstate charities receiving grants from BI-LO Charity Classic funds include:

Greenville Hospital Children’s Caner Center
A Child’s Haven
Alliance for Quality Education
American Red Cross
Bair Foundation
Bell’s Crossing Elementary
Berea Lions Club, Inc.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate
Blue Ridge Council Boy Scouts America
Bon Secours St. Francis Foundation
Camperdown Academy
Center for Developmental Services
Christian Learning Center
Church of God Home for Children
Daily Bread Ministries- Greer Soup Kitchen
Eastside Baptist Center
First Steps of Greenville County
Fountain Inn Police Department Community
Girl Scouts of S.C.- Mountains to Midlands
Patrol Division
God’s Pantry
Greenville Free Medical Clinic
Greenville Literacy Association
Greenville Rape Crisis and Child Abuse Center
Greenville Symphony Orchestra
Greer Community Ministries
Hands on Greenville
Heritage Elementary School PTA
Hidden Treasure Christian School
Junior Achievement of Greenville
Little Steps
Loaves and Fishes
Make-A-Wish Foundation of S.C.
Meals on Wheels of Greenville, Inc.
Medically Fragile Children’s Program
Meyer Center for Special Children
Miracle Hill Ministries
Miracle Hill Ministries Boys’ Shelter
NAMI
North Greenville Food Crisis Ministry
Oakview Elementary
Operation Care
Peace Center Foundation
Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter
Phillis Wheatley Association
Pickens Elementary School
Pickens Middle School
Pleasant Valley Connection
Prevent Child Abuse Pickens County
Project Host Soup Kitchen
Safe Harbor, Inc.
Salvation Army Kroc Center
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure- Upstate, S.C.
Terrific Kids
The Childen’s Museum
Salvation Army of Greenville County
United Ministries
Urban League of the Upstate
Washington Center
Wren High School NJROTC Unit
Wren Youth Association
YMCA Judson Community Center
YMCA of Greenville
Pickens Couty Board of Disabilities and Special Needs        
Greenville County Recreation District- Camp Spearhead      
Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board
Carolina Foothills Chapter of the United Mitochondrial Disease
                                                                                                                 
“Funding from the BI-LO Charity Classic provides us with a unique opportunity to make an impact in the communities where we work and live.  We are excited about being able to provide support for such a large number of organizations that truly make a difference in the Upstate,” said Carol Browning, Director of BI-LO Charities. 

The BI-LO Charity Classic has raised more than $45 million for charities since it was initiated in 1984.  The Charity Classic was originally founded as a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels and has expanded to fund nearly 500 charities each year throughout BI-LO’s four-state region of South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.