Greene County Democrat

Tag: BBCF Board Chairperson.The Society of Folk Arts & Culture

  • Greene County receives $41, 263 in BBCF grants Black Belt Community Foundation awards over $300,000 in community and arts grants

    Shown above are representatives of Greene County groups awarded BBCF community and arts grants. At far left are: Dr. Carol P. Zippert, a BBCF Founder; Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF Greene County Board Member and Ms. Felecia Lucky, BBCF President.
    BBCF presents grant award to the Society of Folk Arts & Culture which is sponsoring the 50th Celebration of the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, August 23-24, 2025 in Eutaw, AL.

    L to R: Felecia Lucky, BCF President; Darlene Robinson, BBCF Board Member, Carol P. Zippert, Festival Coordinator and Aaron Head, BBCF Arts Coordinator.

    The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) awarded $344,447.20 to 141 community and arts projects across its 12 county service area in the Alabama Black Belt Region, including Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox. The presentations were made at its 2025 Arts and Community Grant Ceremony held Saturday, May 3, 2025 at Wallace Community College Selma. “As we continue to celebrate BBCF’s 20th anniversary through May, the Black Belt Community Foundation is proud to award these funds in 141 different grants to community and arts organizations across the 12 counties we serve,” said BBCF President Felecia Lucky.
    Greene County received 13 grants for community and arts projects, in the amount of $41,263.24, awarded to the following organizations: Alabama Art Casting, Boligee Senior Center, Boss Ties LLC, Broader Horizons, Bundle of Joy Praise Team, Eutaw Elderly Village Inc., Greene County Human Rights Commission, Mount Pleasant Home Protection Society, Operations Taking Back Our Community (TBOC), Release the Earth, Society of Folk Arts and Culture (Black Belt Festival Grant,) United Purpose Inc. The 2025 arts grants, including the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, totaled $14,125; community grants totaled $27, 138.24.
    Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF board member representing Greene County, stated that each of the 12 counties has a group of volunteers, known as Community Associates, who raise funds for the Foundation and these resources, which receive a percentage match from BBCF, are allocated in grants to the respective county. “We hold a lot of fundraising activities in Greene County, but that money can only be spent in Greene County through grants,” she said.
    “We continue our focus on empowering local initiatives by first listening and responding to the very needs voiced by the communities themselves — all while fostering growth and impacting the entire Black Belt region,” stated President Lucky.

  • BBCF awards $60,000 for community arts projects

    Shown L to R: Lillian Wideman, Arts Grants Committee Chairperson; Spiver Gordon, President Alabama Civil Rights Education and Freedom Museum; Carol P. Zippert, Director of the Society of Folk Arts & Culture; Teresa Atkins, President of Broader Horizons-Brighter Futures and Darlene Robinson, BBCF Board Chairperson.

    In a ceremony held Saturday, April 27, 2019, the Black Belt Community Foundation awarded 19 arts grants to community groups in its 12 county service area, totaling $60,000. Seventeen of the grant awards ranged from $1,500 to $3,000. Two of the awards were for community Arts Education Projects which received $10,000 each.In Greene County three project were awarded a total of $7,500. The Society of Folk Arts & Culture received $3,000 toward the production of the annual Black Belt Folk Roots Festival. Broader Horizons-Brighter Futures received $3,000 to implement an arts appreciation program for youth and adults. The Alabama Civil Rights Education Center and Freedom Museum received $1,500 toward equipment and supplies to preserve museum holdings.
    The Arts Education Grants of $10,000 each were awarded to Bullock County Social Justice Foundation to support a year long program teaching music theory, instruments and performing to students and adults and to the Hale County Library to support a year-long Natural Dye and Textile Workshop incorporating history and science to students and adults.
    Grants awarded to counties in BBCF’s service area included Choctaw County $2,000; Bullock County $2,550; Dallas County $6,000; Lowndes County $3,000; Macon County $6,000; Marengo County $2,200; Perry County $2,000; WilcoxCounty $5,680.