GSK and Triangle Community Foundation today announced the GSK IMPACT Award Winners in a ceremony at GSK’s Research Triangle Park facility. Ten local nonprofits earned $40,000 each in recognition of their outstanding contributions to a healthier Triangle region.

“There is an important connection between our health and our community,” said Becki Lynch, Manager GSK Community Partnerships in a statement. “The more we understand this connection, the more we can improve it. Today’s GSK IMPACT Award Winners show us how there are many ways to build a healthier North Carolina.”

The grant recipients are:

  • A Helping Hand, Inc.
  • CASA
  • Durham Community Land Trustees, Inc.
  • Durham Interfaith Hospitality Network
  • Durham Literacy Center, Inc.
  • East Coast Greenway Alliance
  • East Durham Children’s Initiative
  • Emily Krzyzewski Center
  • First In Families of North Carolina
  • The Hope Center at Pullen, Inc.

In the Triangle Region, the GSK IMPACT Awards are presented in partnership with Triangle Community Foundation.

“A healthy community is the result of the dedicated, thoughtful, and intentional work of many people and programs,” said Triangle Community Foundation President & CEO, Lori O’Keefe in a statement. “The GSK IMPACT Awards not only recognize some outstanding programs, but also provide a healthy financial investment – allowing the winners to maximize their impact on their critical community health programming.”

The GSK IMPACT Awards for the Research Triangle Park Region is one of several charitable programs GSK offers as part of a commitment to building healthier communities across the nation. Much of what influences health happens outside the doctor’s office – ensuring that communities have access to healthy foods, safe places to play and exercise, and the support of family and social networks are all important factors in improving health outcomes and helping people do more, feel better, and live longer.

This was a competitive awards process with nearly 60 applications. GSK US Community Partnerships and Triangle Community Foundation staff members reviewed the applications and coordinated site visits, and the winners were selected by a panel of local and national community health experts.Applications were accepted from nonprofit organizations that addressed at least one of the following health factors and measures:

  • Diet and exercise;
  • Education;
  • Built environment;
  • Employment; and
  • Family and social support.

For 19 years, GSK has honored outstanding nonprofit programs that are improving access to health in and around the organization’s corporate campuses in Durham, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the GSK IMPACT Awards. To date, the company has provided $8.4 million in grant funding. Within the past seven years, $2.3 million has been awarded to 56 local nonprofit organizations in the Triangle region. The name ‘IMPACT’ represents the criteria winners must demonstrate: Innovative, Measured, Partnered, Accountable, Community-centered, and Transformative (or, the acronym, IMPACT).