Those searching for projects aimed at helping the community could get a helping hand from the Beaufort-Hyde Community Foundation.

Starting March 9, the Community Foundation will be accepting applications online at nccommunityfoundation.org. The deadline for applications is April 10.

Community Foundation board President Stuart O’Neal said the grants have helped a variety of organizations over the years.

“We have in the past done anything from help funding the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastal Plain, food plots in Aurora, A ‘Meals On Wheels’-type program in Hyde County. This past year we gave money to the Open Door Community Center in their endeavors to get started,” O’Neal said. “As long as it’s benefitting Beaufort or Hyde county.”

Open Door Community Center is a homeless women’s and children’s shelter planned in Beaufort County.

O’Neal said the board tries to split funding between at least two organizations each year, which can be a difficult proposition considering between five and 15 applications come in each grant cycle.

“Then the board discusses the need and tries to figure out the best use of the money,” O’Neal said. “We try to split it between two and try to stretch it out as far as we can.”

The amount being dispersed during a given grant cycle depends on contributions from the community, he said.

Beaufort-Hyde Community Foundation is an affiliate of the North Carolina Community Foundation. With assets of nearly $247 million, NCCF provides support for a variety of community needs, nonprofits, scholarships and institutions and has given out more than $130 million in grants since NCCF was founded in 1988, according to a press release from NCCF.

Tax-deductible contributions, made payable to the Beaufort-Hyde Community Foundation, can be mailed to the North Carolina Community Foundation, 3737 Glenwood Ave. Suite 460, Raleigh, NC 27612. Contributions can also be made online at nccommunityfoundation.org.