Past, Present, & Future
The foundation's annual Dancing For Our Future Stars event was held on March 21, 2024 and approximately 780 guests were in attendance. Our annual Celebration Gala was held on September 24, 2024 and over 750 guests attended. Tonya McNair was honored as our distinguished graduate. Tonya is employed by NASA and is a graduate of Wilson High School. The foundation's board of directors approved $143,147.66 in grants to be distributed to Florence 1 Schools for the 2024-2025 school year. Our Fellows in Education program is now in its nineth year. Please take a moment to review our 2022-2023 990.
The foundation's annual Dancing For Our Future Stars event was held on March 30, 2023 and approximately 800 guests were in attendance. Rocky Pearce was honored as the foundation's distinguished graduate at our annual gala which was held on September 26, 2023. 700 guests joined in honoring Rocky for his dedication to our community. The foundation's board of directors awarded $143,642.53 in grants for the 2023-2024 school year and to date, the foundation has awarded a total of $2,123,215.31 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. Our Fellows in Education program is now in its eighth year.
The foundation's annual Dancing For Our Future Stars event was held on April 26, 2022 and approximately 800 guests were in attendance at this sold-out event. Our 22nd annual Celebration Gala honoring J. Boone Aiken III was held on September 27, 2022 and approximately 650 guests were in attendance. The foundation's board of directors awarded $130,000 in grants for the 2022-2023 school year. To date, the foundation has awarded a total of $1,979,572.78 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. Our Fellows in Education is now in its seventh year.
After a two year delay due to COVID-19, the foundation was able to hold its annual gala honoring Bo Godbold with Raymond James in March and its Dancing For Our Future Stars event in April. Our Fellows in Education program is now in its sixth year and our StartSMART initiative continues to impact hundreds of children in the community. Please take a moment to review our 2021-2022 990.
The newly founded Early Childhood Ambassadors program is designed to improve education in Florence by involving local leaders in the latest trends and research concerning young children and education programs serving children and families. The Fellows in Education program in now in its fifth year, and our StartSMART and Start2Read initiatives are continuing to make an impact in the Florence community.
The foundation continues to make an impact across the Florence community. In May 2019, our board of directors awarded $145,413.80 in grants to six recipients in Florence One Schools (F1S). To date, the foundation has awarded $1,670,444.30 in grants to F1S. Our StartSMART and Start2Read programs continue to impact thousands of families of young children across the Pee Dee Area. Please take a moment to review our 2018-2019 990.
In May 2018, our board of directors awarded Florence 1 Schools $169,652.60 to fund grants for the 2018-2019 school year. To date, The School Foundation has awarded $1,525,030.50 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. Our board has allocated $145,413.80 to be distributed in 2019-2020 grants. Please take a moment to review our 2017-2018 990.
The School Foundation's StartSMART and Start2Read programs are continuing to make an impact across the Florence community. Our board of directors has awarded $150,015.78 in grants to Florence 1 Schools for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year. To date, the foundation has funded $1,355,377.90 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. Please take a moment to review our 2016-2017 audited financial statement and annual 990.
The School Foundation remains dedicated to expanding our StartSMART and Start2Read programs across the state. Our board of directors has awarded $114,006.36 in grants to Florence 1 Schools for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year. To date, the foundation has funded $1,205,362.00 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. Please take a moment to review our annual 990.
The School Foundation continues to focus on our StartSMART school readiness initiative as well as our Start2Read program. Our board of directors awarded $119,751.27 in grants to Florence 1 Schools for the 2015-2016 school year.
The School Foundation's efforts continue to increase public awareness for our StartSMART school readiness initiative. We are excited to be implementing the Start2Read book distribution in the following businesses: Assurant Specialty Property, City of Florence, PGBA, LLC and Johnson Controls. Please let us know if you would like to be a Start SMART business partner. The foundation awarded $151,771.93 to Florence 1 Schools for the 2014-2015 school year for two major and five mini-grants. To date, we have awarded over $962,352.15 in grants to Florence 1 Schools.
The School Foundation awards $99,440.79 in grants to Florence 1 Schools for the 2013-2014 school year. To date, the foundation has awarded over $810,000 in grants to Florence 1 Schools. The foundation is working with Florence 1 Schools and key business leaders on early childhood initiative; preparing all children to enter school ready to learn. View our 2013 Annual Report and 2012-2013 Form 990.
The School Foundation awards $97,415.89 in grants to be distributed during the 2012-2013 school year. To date, the foundation has awarded over $711,000 in grants to Florence 1 Schools.
The School Foundation forms a School Readiness task force to continue the pursuit of reaching our children before they enter kindergarten. A Business Summit was held in November at SiMT. The Planning Partners were: The School Foundation, Francis Marion University, Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence Chamber of Commerce, McLeod Health and Carolinas Hospital System. The foundation awards $95,332.42 to Florence 1 Schools for four major and eleven mini-grants.
The School Foundation's Board of Director's approves $101,927 to be distributed in grants for the 2010-2011 school year. We begin intense research on School Readiness, a program designed to reach children from birth to five years, as it is clear that the best hope for eliminating the academic achievement gap is prevention. We want to start our work BEFORE children enter kindergarten.
The School Foundation awards $50,000 to our major grant recipient, Math Masters of the Pee Dee. This grant will provide SMART Response clickers to all third grade students in the district, providing immediate feedback to educators. Nine mini-grants totaling $4,898.20 were awarded to several schools in the district.
The School Foundation awards $94,683 in grants to Florence School District One. Dewey L. Carter Elementary School, Southside Middle School and South Florence High School received $89,863 for a joint project called "Bridging the Divide". Ten mini-grants totaling $4,820 were awarded to various Florence 1 Schools.
Grants are expected to exceed $100,000 this year and in subsequent years..
The School Foundation is now the largest private endowment for K-12 public education in South Carolina, with an endowment exceeding $1.4 million. Grants totaling $71,500 will help Florence 1 Schools implement the Education and Economic Development Act. Economic Development Director Joe King noted in a Morning News article on January 13, 2006, that our having the largest education foundation in our state does enhance the quality of life for our citizens. This positive impact on the area can be reflected in businesses such as QVC choosing our area to locate its latest expansion.