The opportunity to help Cherokee County residents in need just became a bit easier for three local nonprofit groups.

A total of $17,000 were donated by the Cherokee County Community Foundation (CCCF) last week to provide support for the help organizations. Gaffney-based PEACHCenter Ministries received $7,000 while The Salvation Army of Cherokee County and Iron City Ministries were awarded grants in the amount of $5,000 each.

"On the behalf of the (CCCF) and the Gaffney Board of Public Works, we appreciate the fact that your organizations are engaged in the community," said Chuck Lewis of the Cherokee County Community Foundation.

The Cherokee Critical Need Response Fund is an emergency relief program created and administered by the CCCF. Designed to address the immediate needs of shelter, food, clothing and warmth to Cherokee County residents affected by the current economic crisis, the fund was established in partnership with the Gaffney Board of Public Works (BPW) in January by way of $20,000 in donations.

In the weeks after the CCCF and BPW announced their initial plans to establish the fund, $1,525 has been contributed.

Requests for assistance by Cherokee County help organizations exceeded $34,000, the CCCF said. Grants were awarded to the agencies that donors felt were most capable of addressing "well documented increases in case work related to the economic crisis."

"It is our job to give to our communities," Lewis said. "This all goes to help people's needs in the areas of groceries, utilities and other expenses."

Only $4,525 remains in the fund to provide assistance. The availability of a March grant cycle will be determined based on contributions remaining in the fund, the group said in a prepared release.

Local residents can also donate to the fund by going online to the CCCF Web site, www.cherokeecounty-cf.org; by phone, 1-800-973-7244; or by mail, P.O. Box 812, Gaffney, S.C. 29342.

All checks should be made payable to the Foundation For The Carolinas' 'Cherokee Critical Need Response Fund.'