The Greenwood Mentoring Group has received a $17,000 gift from an anonymous donor to help further its mission.
“I’m dancing already,” said Bill Clay, the founder of the Greenwood Mentoring Group.
The donation was made through the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, which serves Leflore and 10 other Mississippi counties.
The gift comes in addition to a separate recognition the Mentoring Group received over the weekend from the foundation.
On Saturday, during its annual fundraising Crystal Ball in Southaven, Clay was honored as the Dan Maddox Community Star Man of the Year, one of the foundation’s highest awards. The award is named for a late Tennessee philanthropist whose charitable foundation helped establish the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.
The Mentoring Group, which was established in 2004 and became operational in 2005, provides after-school tutoring and a variety of other services to children from ages 6 to 12 at no cost. It is located at 200 Ave. G.
The group stresses reading through Prime Time Family Reading, a Mississippi Humanities Council program, and also has started an adult literacy program in conjunction with Delta Council.
Clay called the donation a godsend and said the fact that it comes from an anonymous source makes it extra special.
“It could be a person you see every day, or it could be a person you’ve never seen before,” he said.
“We’re surrounded by people with pure hearts. It will definitely take us to the next level.”
Clay said the grant is proof that the Mentoring Group’s code of conduct works: “Do your work and do it the right way — somebody is watching.”
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
