Black Belt Community Foundation celebrates 20th anniversary with street party, photo gallery

The Black Belt Community Foundation on Wednesday celebrated its 20^th anniversary and the opening of a new office on Church Street in Selma with a street party and recognition of its founders and current staff.

Since starting as a community foundation in 2004, BBCF has given $25 million in grants to organizations in 12 counties in the Black Belt for projects in arts and culture and they offer headstart and give instruction for grassroot leaders and racial reconciliation.

CEO Felecia Lucky, who has been with the group since it started, said the community foundation has always brought in funds and pushed the money right back out to nonprofits serving the community where the funds are needed.

BBCF started out of a collaboration of nonprofits that formed in the 90s to work together, especially when it came to getting state and federal funds that often went to bigger outside nonprofits and rarely flowed to the Black Belt where it was needed. The idea to become a community foundation came from Carol Zippert who got the plan at a national conference. 

The founding committee of 16 had members who were well-known Black Belt natives, including Julian Smith of Alabama Power and George McMillan, former Alabama lieutenant governor and Birmingham businessman from Greenville.

Former Sen. Hank Sanders was also a founder and provided the agency’s tagline, “Taking what we have to make what we need,” which is a saying his mother used often with her family of 13 children.

For 20 years, BBCF has rented space from Sanders at his offices down Water Avenue but on Wednesday they unveiled their new office in a renovated former business on Church Street that BBCF bought. The building also includes conference rooms that they are offering for use by the community at no charge.

During the ceremony, BBCF read the proclamation from Gov. Kay Ivey naming May 1 Black Belt Community Foundation Day.