NELSONVILLE — The Walmart Foundation has announced that it is awarding a $100,000 grant to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) to support its efforts to grow community philanthropy across the Appalachian Ohio region.

One of twelve organizations statewide, FAO is focusing its project on actively partnering with local communities in Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Jackson, Meigs, Morgan and Perry counties to support their efforts of building a locally-directed source of community philanthropy.

“The Walmart Foundation has been a committed partner in FAO’s work across the region for a few years,” said Cara Dingus Brook, president and CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. “We are so pleased to see our partnership continue as the Walmart Foundation supports our vision of one day seeing every Appalachian Ohio county served by a community foundation.”

FAO is working with a number of communities across the region to grow their abilities to turn philanthropic dollars into permanent and flexible resources to support their local community development efforts. By providing technical assistance and training, FAO will be working with local communities and their community foundation funds to grow or establish funds to support local community and economic development projects. The Foundation was awarded a grant from the USDA in August as a first investment in this effort and will now see the project strengthened through support from the Walmart Foundation.

“The Walmart Foundation is honored to partner with FAO in supporting communities across Appalachian Ohio,” said David Gose, Regional General Manager for Walmart in southern Ohio. “FAO’s work with local communities to grow their capacity for locally-led projects is a long-term effort to enrich quality of life in this region through philanthropy and that is something the Walmart Foundation is committed to.”

FAO’s initiative is focused on both supporting local communities in their efforts as well as further developing its own ability to serve as a regional resource for communities across Appalachian Ohio now and in the future. The communities partnering with FAO will build the capacities necessary to realize sustainable, positive transformation in the quality of life and economic strength of their communities through community development philanthropy.