3609 Hwy 24 (Ocean) | Newport, North Carolina 28570

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2001

Sally Steele
252-393-8185
sallys@nccoast.org

Reynolds Grant to Expand Federation Work

     Ocean, NC - The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation made its first grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation in 1984, beginning a long tradition of support. Today, 18 years later, it announces a two-year $150,000 grant to the statewide coastal environment group. 
     The most recent funds will support the Coastal Federation's work to protect the coast by promoting smart growth strategies, and to restore and preserve its 2.1 million acres of estuaries. The Federation will focus its work over the next two years on improving coastal land use planning, strengthening fisheries habitat protection, preventing storm water pollution, and improving enforcement of environmental rules by deploying three CoastKeepers. 
     "Throughout the Federation's history, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has been one of the cornerstones of support for our programs," stated Federation Executive Director Todd Miller. "The Foundation's grants have allowed the Federation to become an effective leader in coastal conservation, working with thousands of citizens to help restore and protect the coast."
     Tom Ross, Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and three Foundation Trustees, Jock Tate, Darrell Hancock and Shirley Frye visited the Coastal Federation headquarters in May for a first hand look at the organization and its programs. "We continue to be pleased and impressed with the work of the Coastal Federation," Ross said following the visit. "Their outstanding work is a real key to protecting and preserving our beautiful coastal areas for the generations of the future." 
     The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation was established in 1936 as a memorial to the youngest son of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In that year the brother and two sisters of Z. Smith Reynolds, R.J. Reynolds, Jr., Mary Reynolds Babcock, and Nancy Susan Reynolds Bagley, provided that their inheritance from his estate would go to the establishment of a trust for the benefit of the people of North Carolina. One of the initial trustees of the Foundation was Z. Smith Reynolds' uncle, William Neal Reynolds, who at his death in 1951 created a trust which now provides a portion of the Foundation's annual income.
     In its history, the Foundation, as the beneficiary of the income from the Zachary Smith Reynolds Trust and W. N. Reynolds Trust, has now made grants totaling more than $301 million to recipients in all of North Carolina's 100 counties. In recent years the Foundation has focused its attention on strengthening public elementary and secondary education, preserving the environment, stimulating community economic development, and on issues that impact minorities and women.