The Bent Tree Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to providing educational and quality-of-life funding to benefit the students and residents of our local community.
Since IRS approval of the Bent Tree Foundation as a public, 501(c)(3) charity, its mission has evolved into an organization that is dedicated to the school children of Pickens County, to the caring and temporary housing of lost pets in Bent Tree and to helping improve the quality of life for local residents.
The Bent Tree Foundation has a number of designated funds, such as the Scholarship/Grant Program, the Stray Animal Care Fund and other designated funds for specific projects. Donations designated for a specific fund are used exclusively for that fund. The Foundation’s Board of Directors do not permit the co-mingling of funds. Your donation will always be used as you have specifically directed.
The ability of the Foundation to execute our missions is dependent upon the generosity of our Bent Tree community as well as other local individuals, organizations and companies who have recognized the value of our missions and who are eager and willing to participate. The Foundation has been most pleased to have been successful in touching the lives of many Pickens County students, either through a scholarship or a grant.
We continue to receive many more scholarship and grant applications than we have funds to support. Our Scholarship/Grant Program is only as expansive as our funds allow it to be. Nevertheless, the Foundation is proud and hopeful that the scholarship funds we have awarded made a difference in the higher education aspirations of some of the graduating seniors.
Additionally, the Foundation feels that it is very important to award grants to teachers to enable them to purchase items for their students that would not have been funded through the school system budget. In providing grants to teachers, the Foundation has been able to have a positive impact on hundreds of students by enhancing their learning experiences. The grants have been used for scientific equipment, special books and other materials that the students would not have otherwise received.
Taking care of stray animals is rewarding and heartwarming but often times expensive, especially when medical attention is required. Thus, the Foundation established a Stray Animal Care Fund to assist in this regard. Likewise, providing a fully-functional shelter was high on our priority list. Thanks to generous donations and many volunteer efforts, we completed the construction of the new Bent Tree Animal Shelter in 2012.
The Foundation is always seeking more volunteers. So if you have an interest in volunteering and assisting with any of our efforts, please contact us at info@benttreefoundation.org. It is impossible to accomplish our missions without your support. For this reason, the Foundation is most grateful to all of our donors and volunteers and look forward to a long-standing successful association.