Talk About Giving needs your help! Our Facebook fans have selected 12 Midlands nonprofits as finalists for the $2,000 Summer Grant Giveaway and now we need to pick the winner! We received almost 600 nominations for more than 60 Midlands nonprofits – wow! What a passionate group, but the fun isn’t over yet!

It’s now time to meet the top 12 finalists and vote for your favorite to win at the Talk About Giving Facebook page. The polls will be open until midnight, August 10. Don’t forget to tell your friends! Good luck to the finalists!

All of these nonprofits serve the Midlands and through this process we’ve enjoyed learning more about the various programs and services available to our community. How fortunate we are that these organizations exist! Take a minute to learn more about them and consider where you might want to help in our community.

Here’s the lineup in alphabetical order:

• College Summit, South Carolina partners with school districts to increase their college-going rates by fostering a high school culture where college-going is the expectation, not the exception.
• Family Connection South Carolina strengthens families of children with special needs through programs and services centered on the concept of parent-to-parent support.
• Healthy Learners is committed to help alleviate health related barriers to learning that face our community’s economically disadvantaged children.
• Historic Columbia Foundation has a mission to nurture, support and protect the historical and cultural heritage of Columbia and its environs through programs of advocacy, education and preservation.
• Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (MIRCI) provides community based services to individuals recovering from mental illness or emotional disorders through counseling, housing and financial management initiatives.
• Palmetto Conservation Foundation works to to conserve South Carolina’s natural and cultural resources, preserve historic landmarks, and promote outdoor recreation through trails and greenways.
• Palmetto Place Emergency Children’s Shelter provides a safe and nurturing emergency shelter bringing together a broad range of services for children who are victims of abuse and neglect.
• Pets, Inc., the Carolinas Humane Society, assists the public with rescue, shelter, spay/neuter, and adoption of unwanted or found animals, provides medical, nutritional, and rehabilitation services to ensure successful life-long adoptions and educates the public about the causes and solutions to the dramatic plight of hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats.
• Saving Lana Foundation supports the life-saving research of Canavan disease, a rare, fatal neurological disorder in children that affects the formation of myelin, or white matter of the brain, which insulates nerve cells.
• S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy works to prevent adolescent pregnancy in South Carolina through education, technical assistance, public awareness, advocacy and research. Since its founding in 1994, teen pregnancy in South Carolina has decreased by 25 percent.
• St. Lawrence Place provides support services, life skills, and transitional housing to enable homeless families to achieve independent living as productive members of the community
• The Therapy Place provides physical, occupational and speech therapy services for children with special needs as well as innovative therapies, not found elsewhere in SC, all in a family-friendly environment.

Williamson manages Talk About Giving (www.talkaboutgiving.org), an initiative of Central Carolina Community Foundation that supports families in raising generous, community-minded children through active involvement in family giving and service.