Christmas came early for 27 local Georgetown. S.C., USA, organizations this past week when representatives from the groups gathered at the main office of International Paper’s (Memphis., Tenn.)  Georgetown Mill and received grants totaling $55,000. The organizations were awarded grants, funded by the International Paper Foundation, for their work with environmental education, literacy, and employee involvement. 

 

This is my favorite day of the year," said Jeannine Siembida, Georgetown Mill manager. "This is my fifth year doing this, and we’ve given away a quarter of a million dollars in those past five years."

 

Siembida explained that the recipients had to apply for the grant. "There are criteria the applicants have to meet, so we try to work with them to make sure they meet all of the qualifications," she said.

 

Once submitted, a committee of IP employees reviewed the grant applications and decided the amount of the awards. Representatives from almost all of the receiving organizations attended the grant ceremony last week to accept their awards and explain to other attendees how they will be using the funds. Each recipient expressed sincere thanks for the awards.

 

"Giving the money is easy," said Siembida. "What you do is hard and it goes such a long way."

The grants were given to 10 environmental education groups, and 17 literacy groups within the local communities.