Vidant Beaufort Hospital awarded $95,000 to 17 recipients on July 13 as part of the annual Community Benefit Grants program, which is funded by Vidant Health. This year’s grantees include:

• Albemarle Development Corporation — Meals on Wheels program
• Beaufort County Department of Social Services — Feeding Our Elderly program
• Beaufort County Community College — Community Paramedic program
• Beaufort County Police Acti vities League — Youth Biometric Physical Health Assessment
• Boys and Girls Club of the Coastal Plains — Triple Play of Beaufort County
• Coastal Pregnancy Center — Solomon’s Cribs program
• Community Assistance Rural Empowerment — Champion Your Fitness program
• Eagle’s Wings Food Pantry — Tasting and Seeing the Goodness
• Food Bank of the Albemarle — Beaufort-Hyde mobile food pantries
• Higher Heights Human Services — Healthy Outcomes for pregnant and parenting teens
• Kaye Lee’s Corner Foundation — Senior Club of Belhaven
• Mid-East Commission Area Agency on Aging — Medication Management program
• NC Med Assist — Free Pharmacy Program for low-income, uninsured Beaufort and Hyde counties’ residents
• Open Door Community Center — temporary shelter for homeless women and children
• Project DIRECT — legacy for men and their families of Hyde County
• Ruth’s House — Encourage, Empower, Equip program
• Zion Homeless Shelter — financial assistance with Feeding the Hungry of Beaufort County

Vidant Health’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina includes helping people take better care of themselves before needing to be hospitalized. One of the many ways they accomplish this is by making a substantial donation to the Vidant Health Foundation to support the Community Benefit Grants program.

The purpose of Vidant Health’s Community Benefit Grants program is to positively impact the health of people who live in the communities we serve. The program focuses on early detection, wellness and prevention, community health initiatives and direct healthcare services. This is accomplished by providing education, health-management tools and easier access to local programs for the people who need those most.

Each Vidant hospital has its own grants program designed to meet local needs identified by the Community Health Needs Assessment that happens in our region every three years and is conducted in partnership with county health departments. Each hospital has a grants-review committee made up of medical professionals, hospital leaders, as well as representatives from the health department, local health coalitions and community members.

This is the seventh year that funds have been distributed from the Community Benefit Grant program in Beaufort and Hyde counties. During that period, 85 grants have been awarded totaling over $1.5 million distributed.