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The Foundation Offices will be closed on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th in recognition of Thanksgiving.

In partnership with The Spartanburg County Foundation, the Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance will hold its Annual Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service virtually from Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church on Tuesday, November 24th at 6:30 p.m. View the service from Macedonia’s Facebook page @MacedoniaMissionaryBaptistChurchSpartanburg. This event brings together diverse faith groups, and all are invited to watch the virtual service! “Our community thanksgiving service is a way for people of faith, congregations and clergy to lead our community in a meaningful coming together,” said Scott Neely, Minister with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg. “We do that spiritually, emotionally by worshipping together and practically by raising funds to support worthy causes in our community at every thanksgiving service.” All proceeds taken during the evening’s offering will benefit Angels Charge Ministry.  The mission of Angels Charge Ministry is to offer a transitional housing program, case management and advocacy to deter recidivism and to facilitate a successful reentry into our community for women during and after incarceration. Donations given towards this year’s thanksgiving grant recipient, Angels Charge Ministry, can be accepted before, during or after the virtual service at bit.ly/SIFA2020_TS. In addition to the website, donors can text the code SIFA2020 to 44-321 and be directed to the giving page.  Over 650 community members were in attendance at last year’s in-person Annual Thanksgiving Community Service representing faith groups including, Congregation B’nai Israel, The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, the Islamic Society of Greenville, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Friends in Christ United Methodist Church, Hindu Society of Greater Spartanburg, Cleveland Chapel Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Central United Methodist Church, Life with Jesus Ministries, Unitarian Universalist Church and more. Words of thanksgiving, readings, prayers, blessings and choral selections are offered from all faiths represented. “For more than 20 years, we’ve had the opportunity to present our annual thanksgiving service,” said Rev. Dr. James Hailstock, Senior Pastor of New Day Baptist Church in Spartanburg. “Due to the pandemic, we are having to come to you virtually, but nevertheless, it’s still going to be a powerful and interactive service.” We invite you to join us as we gather and give thanks together. 

Session Description: Each year, The Spartanburg County Foundation partners with area clergy to host the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service, an annual ecumenical service that provides an opportunity for clergy members from various faith groups, as well as members of the community, to worship together and give thanks. A committee of local clergy selects a nonprofit organization each year to receive the offering. As a sponsor of this event, The Spartanburg County Foundation matches the plated offering from the night of the service dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000.

DESCRIPTION: Each year, The Spartanburg County Foundation partners with area clergy to host the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service…

The Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance is a network of clergy, lay leaders, and faith communities joining together for the purpose of contributing to the common good. The Alliance was formed as a partnership between area clergy and The Spartanburg County Foundation in 2014. The 2017 Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service, sponsored by the Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance and The Spartanburg County Foundation, is an opportunity for people to gather together in celebration and gratitude. This annual event brings together clergy from numerous faith communities, and is open to everyone. This year, the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service will be Tuesday, November 21, 2017, at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church (445 South Church Street, Spartanburg). The service will begin at 6:30 p.m. Compassion Grant Application The Spartanburg County Foundation matches the Community Thanksgiving Service offering plate up to $5,000, and all proceeds are donated to a named charitable organization identified each year by the clergy. To apply for funding from the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service, please complete the Compassion Grant Application through the Foundation’s online grant portal (www.spcf.org) following the guidelines stated below. Eligibility Organizations eligible to apply for the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service funding must have annual budgets not exceeding $500,000 and provide services in one of the following areas: – Family Services – Food, Hunger & Shelter – Health Services – At-risk Youth Grant requests should support direct services (i.e. implementing programs and outreach efforts). Priority will be given to organizations that can clearly demonstrate how the project will benefit the residents of Spartanburg County. Note: Organizations that have received the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service offering in the past five years are not eligible to apply. Process The funds donated at the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service and the matching funds from The Spartanburg County Foundation are given to a local nonprofit organization chosen by a special committee of Spartanburg County clergy. Apply Online Organizations interested in applying must complete the online Compassion Grant Application.  Applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 18, 2017.  Please click on the link below to apply now.  APPLY NOW Questions For more information, please contact Ashley Whitt, grants manager, at (864) 582.0138 or awhitt@spcf.org.

Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service Raises over $21,000 for Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network (SPIHN) Watch the Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service, hosted at First Presbyterian Church Spartanburg, by clicking the video below.   SPIHN to receive $21,000 to help homeless families By Allison M. Roberts, Spartanburg Herald-Journal More than $20,000 was raised Tuesday night for a program that helps homeless families get back on their feet. This year’s Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service at First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, sponsored by The Spartanburg County Foundation and the Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance, raised money for the Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network, a local nonprofit that assists homeless children and their families. At the service, $13,555.01 was collected from those in attendance. The Spartanburg County Foundation gave $5,000, and an anonymous donor pledged to match $2,500 of it. All total, $21,055.01 will be donated to SPIHN. “The bar has been set very high this year, perhaps close to doubling the take from last year,” said the Rev. Sally Beth Shore of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Spartanburg, just before announcing the amount. Shore said it takes about $5,000 a year to support each family that goes through SPIHN. “I imagine they’d be deeply touched if they knew of the work of this community coming together just for one night to make this all happen in the coming year,” Shore said. The Rev. J. Edward Morris of the Episcopal Church of the Advent urged those who attended to give generously to help those families who have unexpectedly found themselves in transition. Morris recalled a list of people from the Bible who found themselves in some kind of transition at some point in their lives. He said he kept thinking of what it’s like to be without a home, and hoped those in attendance would help SPIHN serve those families. “SPIHN knows about transition. It knows about the difficulties and challenges that face family,” Morris said. “I’m pleased, proud and humbled as the Episcopal Church of the Advent to be one of the 16 churches in this community that hosts SPIHN families a week at a time. They move in and we host them, feeding and providing a warm, safe place to lay their head.” Beth Rutherford, executive director of Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network, said she was honored to be part of the service and talked about the organization’s work. SPIHN helps provide life skills to homeless families, and it works with 16 local churches that provide overnight shelters and food. Volunteers from the churches have converted classrooms into sleeping areas so families can stay together during that moment of crisis, Rutherford said. If the adults in the family aren’t working, they come to the day center, where a case manager works with them on life skills such as budgeting, financial responsibility and parenting, Rutherford said. The goal is to help them get back on their feet and teach them the necessary skills to be self-sufficient once they leave SPIHN, Rutherford said. “We do everything we can do to help our families become sustainable once they leave SPIHN,” Rutherford said.

Fernwood Baptist Church hosted the 2013 Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service on Tuesday, November 26. Hundreds of community members gathered to worship together and collectively give thanks. Each year a committee of local clergy organizes the multidenominational service and selects a nonprofit organization to receive the offering.  As a sponsor of this event, The Spartanburg County Foundation matches the plated offering dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000. The selected recipient of this year’s plated offering was Greater Spartanburg Ministries. The organization provides emergency assistance to the people of Spartanburg County who are experiencing times of crisis. Rev. Kevin Koger, CEO of Greater Spartanburg Ministries, thanked the community for its financial support of the organization, which distributes food to over 150 local families each week. “The Thanksgiving service at Fernwood Baptist Church was a true communal and missional expression of love for our neighbors in need,” stated Koger. Greater Spartanburg Ministries will use the nearly $11,000 received from the Thanksgiving service to purchase a commercial refrigerator, which will provide additional storage and preservation capacity for the perishable food items distributed through the food pantry. “It is a privilege to be a part of the annual Spartanburg Community Thanksgiving Service. This is a special community-wide event in which the Foundation is proud to be a partner and sponsor,” said John Dargan, president and CEO of The Spartanburg County Foundation. “Since 2000, the Foundation has matched the offering collection, and since that time over $140,000 has been given to Spartanburg County nonprofit organizations which provide services to our neighbors in need.”

EVAN McLEODGrantmaking Officer Evan Petty serves as Grantmaking Officer and joined the Foundation team in 2021. She gained extensive knowledge of nonprofit agencies through her experience in AmeriCorps, Leadership Greer, working for several nonprofit organizations, and completing advanced nonprofit management and leadership training through Duke University. As part of the Foundation’s Community Leadership team, she manages the Foundation's grantmaking processes and provides technical assistance for nonprofits building their impact across Spartanburg County. Evan also remains informed about local nonprofit organizations, community needs, and connecting those needs with community resources.   Evan enjoys spending time with her husband Dean and their dog and cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs.    Contact Evan for questions about the Foundation's Continuous Improvement and Nonprofit Effectiveness grant cycles, Disaster relief grant, Community Thanksgiving Service Offering grant, grants portal (GO apply), and to make an appointment for nonprofit organization technical assistance.