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COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA MAKES GRANT TO SUSTAIN AREA LAND TRUSTS FOR DECADES TO COME
Land Trusts Plan to Strengthen Planned Giving Campaigns

Release Date: June 30, 2008
Contacts: Valerie True, Blue Ridge Forever, 828.253.0095 x213

ASHEVILLE – Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC), local land trusts will have the resources to strengthen their planned giving programs. The $25,000 grant made to the Blue Ridge Forever coalition will help the ten local land trusts become better equipped to solicit gifts through wills and estates.

"Planned gifts are an important funding source for any organization" stated Phyllis Stiles, campaign director for the Blue Ridge Forever coalition, "but for land trusts who monitor protected lands in perpetuity, accumulating reserve funds through planned gifts is a must." Land trusts are working to protect important wildlife communities, high quality waters, historic sites, scenic vistas and working forests and farmland from development in an unprecedented time of population growth and construction in Western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Forever coalition asserts that with adequate funds they will be able to plan ahead with confidence and act quickly to compete for land placed on the market.

"The Community Foundation is pleased to provide this support," said CFWNC Senior Program Officer Tim Richards. "Through this single grant, 10 different organizations will benefit from planned giving programs that will help sustain preservation efforts for decades."

The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that serves the 18-county mountain region by professionally managing charitable funds created by individuals and families, and by using those funds to make grants to local nonprofit organizations.

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Blue Ridge Forever is a collective campaign led by local land trusts and national conservation organizations to engage the public and raise financial resources to safeguard land and water in the Southern Blue Ridge for present and future generations. For more information, see www.blueridgeforever.info.

PARTNERS OF BLUE RIDGE FOREVER
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, High Country Conservancy, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, National Committee for the New River, Pacolet Area Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, The Trust for Public Land
Advisors: The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy - North Carolina Chapter







	COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA MAKES GRANT TO SUSTAIN AREA LAND TRUSTS FOR DECADES TO COME Land Trusts Plan to Strengthen Planned Giving Campaigns Release Date: June 30, 2008 Contacts: Valerie True, Blue Ridge Forever, 828.253.0095 x213 ASHEVILLE – Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC), local land trusts will have the resources to strengthen their planned giving programs. The $25,000 grant made to the Blue Ridge Forever coalition will help the ten local land trusts become better equipped to solicit gifts through wills and estates. "Planned gifts are an important funding source for any organization" stated Phyllis Stiles, campaign director for the Blue Ridge Forever coalition, "but for land trusts who monitor protected lands in perpetuity, accumulating reserve funds through planned gifts is a must." Land trusts are working to protect important wildlife communities, high quality waters, historic sites, scenic vistas and working forests and farmland from development in an unprecedented time of population growth and construction in Western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Forever coalition asserts that with adequate funds they will be able to plan ahead with confidence and act quickly to compete for land placed on the market. "The Community Foundation is pleased to provide this support," said CFWNC Senior Program Officer Tim Richards. "Through this single grant, 10 different organizations will benefit from planned giving programs that will help sustain preservation efforts for decades." The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that serves the 18-county mountain region by professionally managing charitable funds created by individuals and families, and by using those funds to make grants to local nonprofit organizations. # # # Blue Ridge Forever is a collective campaign led by local land trusts and national conservation organizations to engage the public and raise financial resources to safeguard land and water in the Southern Blue Ridge for present and future generations. For more information, see www.blueridgeforever.info. PARTNERS OF BLUE RIDGE FOREVER Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, High Country Conservancy, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, National Committee for the New River, Pacolet Area Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, The Trust for Public Land Advisors: The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy - North Carolina Chapter