PNNOnline.org

The Duke Endowment has awarded more than $56 million in grants to enrich lives and strengthen communities in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., and established in 1924 by N.C. industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is the largest private foundation in the Carolinas. Its 185 new grants in 2009 include:

• $7 million to safeguard children and help them develop.
• $24 million to foster excellence through education.
• $18 million to improve health and wellness.
• $7 million to fortify the leadership of faith communities and to reward retired United Methodist ministers and their families for service.

A complete list of the Endowment’s 2009 grants is also available online.

“Our founder was a man of vision and genius, with dreams and expectations for the Carolinas,” said Russell M. Robinson II, chairman of the Endowment’s Board. “We celebrate his remarkable philanthropy every year, but especially when times are challenging. These 2009 grants stand as a solid testament to Mr. Duke’s legacy.”

Gene Cochrane, the Endowment’s president, said weak financial markets affected the number of projects the Endowment could fund last year. “But the list of 2009 grants includes support for many important efforts that will positively impact our communities,” Cochrane said. “At hospitals, schools, children’s homes and churches, our grantees continue to work hard to address needs and grapple with challenges.”

The Endowment awarded grants to the four educational institutions named in Mr. Duke’s trust: Davidson College, Johnson C. Smith University and Duke University in North Carolina and Furman University in South Carolina. Funds support general university operations, capital projects and special programs that expand educational opportunities. The 2009 grants included $5.7 million to support Johnson C. Smith as it establishes new programs on campus.

With its health care grants, the Endowment works through hospitals and health care providers to expand preventive and early intervention programs, to improve the quality and safety of services and to increase access to care. A grant of $635,121, for example, will help expand services at a psychiatric urgent treatment center in Charleston, S.C., and establish a mobile clinic for mental health patients.

Through its child care grants, the Endowment aims to serve vulnerable children, helping them reach developmental milestones and prepare for adulthood. Grants included nearly $2 million to the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University to help measurably reduce child abuse and neglect rates in Durham, N.C.

By supporting rural United Methodist churches and their leaders in North Carolina, the Endowment helps expand church outreach across the region. A $38,000 grant, for instance, went to Triplett United Methodist Church in Mooresville to expand a health ministry and parish nurse program.

The Duke Endowment, in Charlotte, N.C., seeks to fulfill the legacy of James B. Duke by improving lives and communities in the Carolinas through higher education, health care, rural churches and children’s services. The Endowment has awarded more than $2.6 billion in grants since its inception in 1924.

All grantmaking at the Endowment is guided by an Indenture of Trust, in which Mr. Duke set forth specific funding guidelines. The Endowment’s Trustees, however, have full discretion over year-to-year disbursements.