Celebrating Community Impact

Every grant tells a story, of challenges met, opportunities created, and lives changed. At the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation, we are honored to support the nonprofits that strengthen and inspire our community. This page highlights just a few of those stories. We invite you to explore the impact of our shared generosity, one grant, one photo, one moment at a time.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia - Eastern Shore Club

Grant: $10,000 for Computers, 3D Printers, Projector and Podcast Recording Technology

BGCSEVA’s Eastern Shore Club has been serving the Eastern Shore for over 20 years. The Club opened on June 16, 2003 in the town of Exmore. It has operated continuously since then. In the fall of 2021, the Eastern Shore Club relocated from operating out of Occohannock Elementary School to the Mary N. Smith Cultural Enrichment Center in Accomac, where it still operates today. The Eastern Shore Club is open from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year and from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. during the summer.

Under the guidance of Club Director Kathy Custis, the Eastern Shore Boys & Girls Club serves approximately 60 young people per day and served a total of 191 youth between July 2022 and June 2023.

The Fall 2023 ESVCF of $10,000 provided funding for technology to be incorporated in many of the special club programs. The technology includes: 3 Computers, 2 3D Printers and Filament, 3D Printer Pens, a Projector and Podcast Recording Technology. 

Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity 

Grant: $35,000 for a Jobsite Equipment Trailer, Generator and Tools

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity strives to build strength, stability and self-reliance through safe and affordable housing for families on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. They are an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International and were incorporated in 1988. By 2023, they had completed 52 houses on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, with House #53 under construction.

Historically Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity has constructed 1.5 houses a year. But with demand on the shore for safe and affordable housing continuing to rise. In 2022, the Board of Directors approved a strategic plan to increase the number of houses constructed each year. The primary goal is to increase capacity and sustain building 4 houses per year by 2025. 

In Fall 2023, ESVCF approved a grant of $35,000 grant to obtain and outfit a tandem-axle highway rated all-weather trailer outfitted to include all the tools and equipment necessary to safely construct a home tandem-axle highway rated all-weather trailer outfitted to include all the tools and equipment necessary to safely construct a home.

Saxis Island Museum

Grant: $10,000 to Restore Historic Milk House and Museum Cases  

The Saxis Island Museum helps to preserve the history of Saxis Island and to document the lives of the people that made a living on the island and in the surrounding waters of Chesapeake Bay. While documenting the fading lifestyle of the Saxis Island watermen, the museum will help educate current and future generations on the dangers of misuse of the Chesapeake Bay and its ecosystems.

Founded in 2011, Saxis Island Museum moved into the authentically restored 100+ year Old Crockett Store in 2017 and showcases artifacts, model boats, decoys and photographs of buildings and the people of Saxis Island that have existed since the 1880s.’

The Fall 2023 Grant of $10,000 from ESVCF supported the restoration of a small antique, portable wooden milk house. This milk house was probably built about the same time as the Old Crockett Store (1910) or earlier (1880-1910), when Saxis Island families had cows for producing their daily supplies of milk and cream.

The grant also funded the purchase of additional antique counters and glass showcases.