This year, The McDowell Endowment is marking 30 years of providing grants to improve the lives of local people and help organizations fulfill their missions.

In 1995, Becky Cross organized a small group of community citizens who believed that, through a partnership with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, McDowell County could have its own endowment. The group felt that charitable contributions had left the area for too long and it was time to build permanent local resources to support nonprofits and service agencies in McDowell County, according to a statement from The McDowell Endowment.

McDowell County had seen more than its share of decline in the manufacturing and textile industries, and families with long histories in the county were moving away, the Endowment said.

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