COLUMBIA, S.C. — This year, the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation has awarded more than $250,000 in environmental stewardship grants to 13 nonprofit organizations and K-12 schools across South Carolina.
The grant money is aimed to help nonprofits beautify aspects of nature, improve accessibility at local parks and more.
One local nonprofit recipient of the grant is the Saluda Shoals foundation who will use this year's grant funds to enhance nature trails, install interpretative signage, and increase accessibility at the park.
Saluda Shoals Interpretive Park Ranger, Rachel Kennerly took News19 through the Saluda Shoals park off St. Andrews Road as she discussed what specifics the park looks forward to adding this year, thanks to the Dominion foundation giving the park $37,600 in grant money.
"We are going to install one of the kiosks here so families can pick up brochures to take their self-guided interactive hike on while they enjoy the river," Kennerly explained.
Two kiosks will be placed in the park to enhance interactivity among children and families by increasing their hands-on experience with nature, according to Park Director Lindsay Hudson.
"It's not just here for Saluda Shoals, we are getting four large map kiosks. Two will be here at Saluda Shoals, one will be at our Mungo Park location, and one will be at our Crooked Creek location," Hudson said.
This year marks the fourth consecutive year the park has received grant money from Dominion.
"Each kiosk has four different brochures on it ranging from different kinds of plants to animals in the area. It will also have QR codes that you can scan to get information electronically for these brochures," Hudson added.
While Saluda Shoals looks to use their grant money differently this year compared to years prior, other local nonprofits like Keep the Midlands Beautiful are using their funds similarly to previous years, according to the nonprofits Executive Director, Traude Sander.
"It (the grant) helps us to manage the ‘Adopt a Waterway’ program that we are responsible for in both Lexington and Richland counties. We also use it for our annual lakeside litter sweep of Lake Murray," said Sander.
The annual event has made a notable difference with the help of volunteers around the community, according to Sander.
"Definitely seen a reduction in the amount of litter out there on the islands. People are becoming more aware about the importance of not littering, which is fantastic, but at the same time we are getting more people who are interested in giving back to their community," Sander said.
With both nonprofits utilizing their funds and making a difference around the community, it wouldn't be possible without Dominion's charity foundation.
In total, Dominion’s charity foundation provided more than $1.3 Million in environmental stewardship grants to support 114 organizations across eight states this year.