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JACKSON – For the past several years, Northampton County has annually set aside $20,000 to support local nonprofits. The Board of Commissioners approved awarding this fiscal year’s funds to three applicants during their regular meeting on April 21.

Economic Development Assistant Shannon Godwin presented the applications to the board.

“All three applicants from this past year are organizations we’ve worked with in the past. We felt that their requests were very reasonable. They all gave very strong arguments,” Godwin explained.

The first application came from the Lake Gaston Community Center, located on Highway 46. They requested a total of $3,000 to purchase a Rosenwald Historic Marker for their site.

The community center regularly hosts activities for the community and other events throughout the year, and Godwin noted that they thoroughly outlined their request in their application.

The second application was from the Garysburg Volunteer Fire Department. They requested $6,814 to be used for purchasing new equipment and conducting training. She emphasized that it was important to ensure that local fire departments have what they need in order to continue their service.

“As a daughter of a volunteer fireman, I can say our volunteer firefighters are very important to our community,” Godwin added.

The last application came from the Community Senior Enhancement Program (CSEP), located in Severn. The organization, which serves senior citizens in the county, requested $10,000 to help make repairs to the floor of their building.

“These kinds of organizations service a part of the population that can be forgotten,” Godwin said, “and then when you take away their home base of where they do business, it can have a negative effect on their program and what they can do for the citizens of our county.”

Together, the three requests totaled $19,814, which is just under the $20,000 available to distribute this fiscal year. Godwin recommended approval of the applications.

Commissioner Keedra Whitaker motioned to approve, and Keith Edwards seconded. The vote was unanimously in favor.