September 1, 2015 – The Charlotte Hornets and Lowe’s today announced they will award $50,000 for education-related projects in Mecklenburg County this fall as part of the longtime partners’ education grant program. For the third consecutive year, the grants will fund high-need projects at public schools and nonprofit education programs in the Charlotte area.
Charlotte-area public schools (K-12) and all 501(c)(3) organizations that support public education in Mecklenburg County are eligible to apply for a grant at hornets.com/2015-16-education-grant-application. The application period is open now and will run until September 25. Proposals will be evaluated by a review panel established by the Hornets and Lowe’s, and grant recipients will be announced during the 2015-16 NBA season.
“Education continues to be an essential pillar of our community outreach,” said Charlotte Hornets Foundation Senior Director Bernie Washington. “Over the last two years, Lowe’s and the Charlotte Hornets Foundation have awarded $100,000 to fund needed education programs supporting deserving educators and students. Our organization is honored to partner with Lowe’s again this season to continue to be champions for education in our community.”
The grant program is part of a continued partnership between the Hornets and Lowe’s, a founding partner of the organization. Last year’s recipients included the Arts & Science Council, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas, Shamrock Gardens Elementary School, UNC Charlotte Foundation and YWCA Central Carolinas.
In addition to the education grant program, the two organizations have a history of partnering around education-related initiatives. In April 2013, the organizations launched the Book Bus, a full-service literacy bus that travels throughout the Charlotte area and parts of South Carolina year-round to encourage reading and distribute books to youth. The renovated school bus helps increase opportunities for literacy and learning in underserved communities.
Lowe’s also participated in the Hornets Day of Service at Hornets Nest Elementary School in June 2014 as the organizations teamed with FOX Sports Carolinas and SportSouth to make a $250,000 donation to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School Foundation to establish the Teacher Innovation Fund grant program. Volunteers from all three organizations worked on various beautification and refurbishment projects at Hornets Nest Elementary School throughout the day with all of the all materials provided by Lowe’s.
“Lowe’s is committed to strengthening the communities where we live and work and realizes how important education is to a thriving community,” said Lowe’s Director of Community Relations Joan Higginbotham. “We are excited to partner with the Charlotte Hornets once again and support high-need projects among our area schools.”