SNAP On Pause, Nonprofit In Play: Should The One SC Fund Fill The Gap?

Date:  November 8, 2025

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has turned to a wealthy nonprofit to substitute for the SNAP entitlement program as federal food assistance went on hiatus this past weekend — calling on South Carolinians to donate to One SC Fund, administered by the Central Carolina Community Foundation (CCCF). In this article we’ll delve into a review of CCCF’s website, tax filings, and a conversation co-founder Alaina Moore had with the CEO. We’ll let you decide whether it would be better to donate directly to your local food bank or other local organization that ministers to this need or to donate to CCCF.

Last Tuesday, October 28, 2025, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced the activation of the Central Carolina Community Foundation’s One SC Fund and the activation of the South Carolina State Guard to assist food banks statewide as the future for federal funding for the state’s food stamp program is uncertain until the shutdown ends. According to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, there are more than 556,000 South Carolinians on the federal SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) entitlement program, totaling a staggering $104 million per month in food stamp subsidies just for our state!

As of October 1, 2025, SNAP program allowances are as follows:  $298 for one person, $546 for two people, $785 for three people, $994 for four people, $1,183 for five people, $1,421 for six people, $1,571 for seven people, and $1,789 for eight people, with an additional $218 for each additional person. October funding was distributed to states before the shutdown began but ended on November 1st and Trump’s administration now appears to be complying with an order to partially fund the program even though he stated otherwise in a post on Truth Social earlier in the day. Read how SNAP benefits are often spent here.

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McMaster’s Chosen NonProfit: Central Carolina Community Foundation

According to McMaster’s announcement, the CCCF’s One SC Fund was created in 2015 following Hurricane Joaquin with Governor Nikki Haley’s support to serve “as South Carolina’s coordinated philanthropic response to disasters.” Documents state that CCCF has responded to Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, and Helene, as well as the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Central Carolina Community Foundation primarily covers 11 counties out of the total 46 counties in South Carolina, however a surprising amount of money makes its way into out-of-state nonprofits.

On the Foundation’s tax forms for 2016, when they were supposed to be helping with the disaster left in the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Matthew, the Foundation does not profess to do anything in relation to disaster relief. Instead, it claims all of its “grants and allocations were made in the areas of art, humanities, education, and healthcare.”

For the rest of our analysis, we are going to be referring to its tax form from 2022, which is the last tax year available for the Central Carolina Community Foundation. The charity received grants and contributions totaling almost $26.8 million. Of that, 65% went to charities. Of that 65%, 9%, or close to $1.5 million, went to charities in 21 other states. According to the following segment from the 2022 return, CCCF relies primarily on government funding for its subsistence.

Notable Out-Of-State Donations

The out-of-state nonprofit that received the most financial support was a little-known charity, I Like Giving, out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, which received exactly $300,000 in 2022 alone. We have not been able to locate a Form 990 for I Like Giving since 2014. I Like Giving has two PO Box addresses (one in Colorado & another in Michigan) and has regularly received huge checks from the Foundation over the past several years. The largest in-state donations went to universities (Clemson, Coker, etc.) and places like the Congaree Land Trust, while the preponderance of local nonprofits received substantially smaller grants. CCCF administers several grants for higher education in South Carolina.

Six different charities in West Virginia also received around $152,000 in 2022.

25% of Funds Go To Investments

Most colleges have endowments where they invest in the stock market. What about a charity with a stated mission is to serve an 11-county area in SC? One thing that really stood out on the charity’s Form 990 was the amount of investments listed. A whopping $155,900,763 was listed as publicly traded securities investments, with more than 25% of its reported income apparently being invested annually.

Central Carolina Community Foundation President & CEO Georgia Mjartan

Prior to becoming CCCF’s President and CEO in July 2024, Georgia Mjartan served as the Executive Director of South Carolina First Steps for nearly seven years. SC First Steps grew exponentially under Mjartan’s leadership, most notably transforming the nonprofit into a permanent state agency while more than doubling the reach of the program. She was also the director of the Early Childhood Advisory Council, “a multi-agency coalition of state and federally funded public entities serving young children.” From 2005 to 2017, Mjartan was the Executive Director of Our House, Inc, a social services agency serving homelessness and near-homelessness in Arkansas.

Mjartan was named the Nonprofit Executive of the Year in Arkansas and Arkansan of the Year in 2010. In South Carolina, she has received several awards as well, including Advocate of the Year, a Woman of Distinction, member of the Columbia Power List, and has been honored by the SC House of Representatives in a bipartisan effort. Georgia was also awarded the Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship and is a Furman University Diversity Leaders Initiative Riley Fellow.

Georgia serves on the Parents as Teachers national board, the Community Investment Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and the Post and Courier Education Lab Advisory Council. She has been appointed to many boards including the Columbia Housing Authority, SC Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children, SC Coordinating Council for Workforce Development, and Arkansas Housing Trust Fund.

Our Conversation with CCCF CEO Georgia Mjartan

On Thursday, October 30th, we reached out to CCCF Director of Communications Kate Cherry who requested a phone conversation to answer some of the questions we sent them. Within an hour, CEO Georgia Mjartan called us and was very transparent in answering our questions. (We might add that her transparency far surpassed recent interactions we’ve been privy to with state agencies).

Mjartan told us that the One SC Fund had received roughly $97,000 from 420 donors, “almost entirely individuals”, at the time of our call on 10/30/2025. She added that they had just received a commitment of $100,000 from “a corporate donor” who we later found out through social media was Duke Energy South Carolina. Georgia stated that the fund was activated on October 27th but wasn’t announced until Governor McMaster’s press release on October 28th.

Written by PSWF Co-founders Janis Price and Alaina Moore

Article posted with permission from Palmetto State Watch Foundation

Alaina Moore

Alaina Moore is a native of South Carolina and loves her state so much that she decided not to leave. While being homeschooled, she quickly discovered her passion for law and the Constitution in the 7th grade. She cultivated this passion over the next five years by competing in multiple speech and debate categories garnering local, regional, and national recognition. For several years, Alaina traveled South Carolina teaching young students the art of public speaking, government, research, and debate. Alaina attended Furman University and was selected to compete on the Furman Mock Trial A Team where she assisted her team in winning multiple trophies across the nation. She graduated cum laude with a BA in Politics and International Affairs and Communication Studies, Media Track. From a very young age, Alaina has held a strong love for her nation and for the Palmetto State. Truth, Transparency, and Integrity are very near and dear to her heart, qualities that have become foreign to the political realm. After watching first-hand the corruption in political entities across the world and in her own state through her work, Alaina has made it her mission to educate fellow South Carolinians on their constitutional rights, corruption prevention, and the power of organization. Visit Alaina's sites at Palmetto State Watch or Palmetto State Watch Foundation

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