Upstate Giving, Dec. 21

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GADC lends hand to manufacturing students

In lieu of the Greenville Area Development Corp’s holiday drop-in, Greenville County’s economic development arm gifted 20 advanced manufacturing students across the county with top-grade tool kits.

Greenville County Schools identified top advanced manufacturing students experiencing financial hardship for the gift, which included tools for measuring and maintaining advanced manufacturing machines, according to a news release.

Savannah River Remediation raises funding for United Way

Employees of the Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor raised $259,167 for local United Way agencies during its annual employee fundraising campaign.

Following the campaign, checks were presented virtually to the United Ways of Anderson, Aiken, Barnwell/Allendale, Edgefield, Bamberg/Colleton/Hampton, McDuffie and Screven counties, among others.

“The Savannah River Remediation team definitely lived out this year’s campaign theme of Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” Phil Breidenbach, president and project manager of SRR, said in a news release. “An expectation of SRR’s core value of teamwork is to ‘treat others as you would like to be treated,’ and SRR employees did just that. You never know what life will hand you; we all live closer to the edge than we’d like to think, especially during the uncertain times of this global pandemic.”

Countybank Foundation donates $25,855 to local nonprofits

Countybank and Greenwood Capital gave $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lakelands Regions, some of which will go toward the renovation of a building on the former Brewer Middle School campus in Greenwood.

The 12,000-square-foot building will be called the Josh Norman STARZ24 Teen Center and be used to serve up to 1,000 middle and high school students each year.

The Boys & Girls Club is a new organization in Greenwood, jumpstarted by a donation from NFL player Josh Norman, that offers afterschool services to youth from ages 5 to 18.

“Our Teen Center programs are designed to keep teenagers on the right path by imparting valuable social and life skills,” Sabrina Miller, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lakelands Regions, said in a news release. “Ultimately, our goal is for the Boys & Girls Clubs to serve as a stepping stone for young adults to graduate on time and transition into college through programs like The Greenwood Promise, or be prepared to enter the workforce or the military. With Countybank and Greenwood Capital’s help, our Teen Center will open in early 2021.”

As part of Countybank’s annual Pacesetter Campaign in Anderson, the bank also pledged $855 to the United Way of Anderson County. The Pacesetter Campaign raises financial support for education, financial and public health needs in each of the local markets served by the bank.

“Partnering with United Way allows us to give back to the community,” Mike Wooles, senior vice president and Anderson market executive of Countybank, said in the release. “We recognize the importance of supporting United Way this year in their efforts to make Anderson a better place to live.”