Jonesboro, Ga. (July 11, 2019) – The Heritage Community Foundation presented a $3,150 check to Heidi Johnson, Director of Clearwater Academy at the Heritage Bank branch in Fayetteville, Georgia on July 11. The grant award will fund educational resources for children with special needs.
“We are pleased and proud to continue our partnership with Clearwater Academy,” said Mark Dose, Executive Director of the Heritage Community Foundation. ”They do amazing work to make sure that children have outstanding educational opportunities in an environment that meets the student’s unique needs. These funds will go toward a specialized reading program curriculum that includes life-skills training.”
Clearwater Academy is a non-profit, private and accredited state of the art school located in Tyrone, Georgia. They provide customized educational services for students with learning and developmental disabilities.
The Heritage Community Foundation began its work in 2015 as an initiative of Heritage Bank employees with a mission of supporting and reinforcing the good work being done by non-profit groups in the Bank’s service area. Since beginning its work in January of 2015 the Foundation has provided nearly $585,000 in grants to more than 150 non-profit groups and agencies in Henry, Clayton and Fayette Counties.
“The generosity of Heritage Bank’s 125 or so employees is amazing,” said Kerry Arnold, Henry County President of Heritage Bank and a member of the Heritage Community Foundation Board of Directors. ”Our employees will donate over $40,000 to the Foundation this year. Also Heritage Bank absorbs all of the operating costs of the Foundation, so 100 percent of the funds donated go directly to meet community needs in the form of grant awards. Not many non-profit groups have the benefit of zero operating costs. We do, thanks to the support from Heritage Bank.”
In 2018, the Heritage Community Foundation provided over $166,000 in grant funds to 54 non-profit groups in Clayton, Henry and Fayette Counties. The Foundation was developed by bank employees to support Heritage Bank’s first mission, “Committed to those we serve.”
The Foundation raises funds through an annual golf tournament in the spring and a clay shoot event in the fall. There are also a number of generous individuals in the area that donate to the Foundation.
In addition to the support from Heritage Bank, a number of other local businesses support the Heritage Community Foundation as IMPACT Partners. These businesses include Harding Plumbing, Brent Scarbrough & Co., C & C Fence Co., Active Pest Control, Fulton & Kozak, CPAs, The Burke Group, Foster, Foster & Smith Attorneys, Heritage Cadillac, Paragon Alarm Systems, Central Station Monitoring, Lincoln Insurance, Chitwood Hauling, Eagle Excavation, Lincoln Insurance, Life and Money Matters, Laura Crumbley, CPA, Griffin Insurance and Sutherland Foodservice.
Heritage Bank, a state chartered commercial bank, has been serving metro Atlanta’s Southern Crescent since 1955. The independent community bank has six full-service offices, features a well-rounded offering of commercial and consumer products, and is an active, involved member of the community it serves. The company’s stock is traded under the symbol “CCFH”.
