The Savannah Community Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce a total of $168,494 in grants from its Alan S. Gaynor Fund to eight Chatham County charities.  Mr. Gaynor was a lifelong resident of Savannah and widely-respected among his peers for his unwavering service to friends, synagogue, community, state and nation as an attorney, military officer, state representative, civic leader and philanthropist. 

Consistent with his lifetime of dedicated service to Savannah, upon his death in 2010, Mr. Gaynor left a significant portion of his estate to the Community Foundation to create a fund benefitting Chatham County. Toward that end, the Community Foundation recently approved the following grants from the Gaynor Fund.

1. to Consumer Credit Counseling for financial literacy workshops for students benefiting middle school through college age students and focusing on topics such as credit and budgeting;

2. to Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club for a Club Robo Tech Program for the club members age 6 to 13 to help with computer skills and increase their knowledge in technology, science, math and engineering;

3. to Friends of Tybee Theater to restore and install cast iron chairs formerly used by Trustees Theater;

4. to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force for a Character Counts Educational Program benefiting approximately 37,000 students in the Savannah Chatham County Public School System;

5. to the Reed House, Inc. to sustain its “Work-Ordered Day” program to help those with mental illness develop skills to find and keep employment;

6. to Royce Learning Center for its computer center, benefiting the Center’s approximate 500 learners;

7. to the Savannah Association for the Blind and Low Vision to purchase canes for vision impaired children;

8. to the Savannah Music Festival for a Musical Explorers program for approximately 9,500 K-2 students and 230 teachers in 59 schools;

9. to the Savannah Tree Foundation to plant trees at 20 bus stops, benefiting those making 3 million CAT passenger trips annually;

10. to the Telfair Museums for an “Art for All” program, benefiting citizens of Chatham County from pre-school through senior citizens via six different programs; and

11. to Union Mission to purchase a new van,  benefiting its clients who need transportation for their daily needs.