On May 12-13, four Sandhills Family Heritage Association (SFHA) members were among more than 120 community leaders gathered at Caraway Conference Center, in Sophia, to learn from experts and peer educators about how to sustain their nonprofit organizations in the current economy.

Titled “Food, Faith and Funding,” the gathering was sponsored by The Conservation Fund’s Resourceful Communities Program, with funding support from The Ford Foundation, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Community Development Initiative.

Executive Director Ammie Jenkins, members Rhonda Jackson, Leon and Doris Lucas, from Spring Lake, represented SFHA, participating in workshops on building coalitions, strategic planning for nonprofit groups, and engaging communities in public policy.

Representatives from the Golden LEAF Foundation, N.C. Rural Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture and N.C. Office of Economic Recovery provided information on how to apply for public and private funding. Bishop Michael Curry, of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, provided the keynote speech on “Faith and the Triple Bottom Line,” highlighting the need for communities to address social, economic and environmental issues in a balanced way.

SFHA is one of more than 250 grassroots nonprofit groups that partner with Resourceful Communities, a statewide network that helps nonprofit community groups implement “triple bottom line” projects that promote sustainable economic development, social justice and environmental stewardship. The Conservation Fund is a national nonprofit organization established in 1985 to work with public, private and nonprofit partners to protect land and water resources, and promote sustainable community economic development. Its Resourceful Communities program was established in 1991 to serve North Carolina’s natural resource-rich and socially and economically distressed communities.

The Sandhills Family Heritage Association is committed to preserving rural African-American cultural heritage and creating community-based economics in the Sandhills region that includes Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Moore and Lee counties. It is located at 245 Vass Road, Spring Lake.

For more information, call (910) 436-3406 or (910) 497-0628. E-mails may be sent to sandhillsfamily1@yahoo.com or sandhillsfamily@yahoo.com.