Impact 100 Baldwin County Announces Grant Finalists 

FAIRHOPE, Alabama – Impact 100 Baldwin County announced the names of the ten nonprofit organizations that have been selected as its 2020 grant finalists. Five of these finalists will each receive a $90,000 grant at the Grant Awards event. 

The ten finalists were selected from 33 applications reviewed by Impact 100 Baldwin County’s Focus Groups. Sandy Stepan, Grants Chair, was encouraged by the number of applicants this year. "When the pandemic hit, many nonprofits struggled to cope and deliver on their mission,” said Sandy. "The fact that we received so many applications in the midst of this crisis shows how vital our grants are to the community.” Each nonprofit application goes through a rigorous evaluation process including virtual site visits, meeting board members remotely, financial analysis, and evaluation of organizational strengths. "This year, we also looked at the project and how it would work given the health and safety considerations surrounding Covid-19,” noted Sandy. 

The 2020 Impact 100 Baldwin County grant finalists and their projects are: 

Arts, Culture & Recreation

· Eastern Shore Art Association: ESAC Academy Entry Update & Studio Revamp

· Mobile Symphony: Baldwin Orchestral Concerts & Outreach Performances 

Education

· Baldwin Pops: Seeding the Sound of Music

· Exploreum Science Center: Science to Go – Baldwin County 

Environment & Preservation

· Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo Foundation: Help Us Hear and Learn at the Zoo

· Safe Harbor Animal Coalition: Safe Harbor Spay and Neuter Facility 

Family

· Family Promise of Baldwin County: Homeless No More

· Mary’s Shelter: Mary’s Shelter Thrift Store 

Health & Wellness

· American Heart Association: CPR for All - Countywide CPR Training Initiative

· Hope Center Counseling: Expanding Hope 

Impact 100’s Annual Grant Awards Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27. For health and safety reasons, the event will be virtual. It will include prerecorded and live segments including the announcement of the recipients. This year, the two finalists from each focus area will record a brief video presentation which will be available to Impact women. Members will review background information and watch the videos -- then vote to select the five grant recipients. The announcement will be live streamed with real-time reaction shots from the grant recipients as they are named.

Impact 100 Baldwin County is a community of women seeking to transform the quality of life in Baldwin County by awarding high-impact grants to nonprofits working in the county. Through the power of collective giving, each member’s annual $1,000 contribution is pooled to produce these transformative grants. This year’s awards will bring the grant total to almost $4 million across 13 years.