From the Golden LEAF Foundation

The Golden LEAF Board of Directors approved $2.975 million to support nine disaster recovery and two job creation projects at their meeting last week. All together, these projects will assist five counties recovering from hurricane damage and help create 155 jobs.
“Golden LEAF is dedicated to the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF president and chief executive officer. “Our Board and staff work hard to get funding out the door and at work in the communities we serve.”
Over two decades, the Foundation has funded 1,814 projects totaling $890 million. Golden LEAF’s 15-member Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. Darryl Moss of Creedmoor was welcomed as the newest member of the Board at its meeting last week. Mr. Moss, the former mayor of Creedmoor, was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper.
The Golden LEAF Board of Directors approved the following Disaster Recovery Grant Program projects in Hyde County:

• $500,000 to Hyde County to construct a new EMS station on Ocracoke. The existing station was flooded by Hurricane Dorian.
• $125,000 to Hyde County to replace the trams used to support the passenger ferry. The trams were destroyed by floodwater on Ocracoke during Hurricane Dorian.
• $900,000 to the Hyde County Schools to support the repair and elevation of several buildings at the Ocracoke School campus. The school was flooded by Hurricane Dorian.
• $278,000 to the Ocracoke Foundation (Hyde County) to support the replacement of the main dock in the Community Square. The dock was destroyed during Hurricane Dorian.
• $277,400 to the Ocracoke Foundation (Hyde County) to support repair of the Ocracoke Seafood Company building. The building, maintained by the Ocracoke Foundation, was damaged during Hurricane Dorian.

The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding received from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For 20 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.
The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state by helping create 64,000 jobs, over half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 77,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.
To learn more about the Golden LEAF Foundation, visit www.goldenleaf.org.