The Town of Winnsboro received a $2,000 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation last week for automatic emergency defibrillators (AEDs).

Charlie Reece from the Plum Creek Foundation told the council members that Plum Creek used to have an office in Winnsboro and was here for a good many years as part of the community and still considers itself part of the community.

“Plum Creek is a timber land owner, now the largest timber land owner in the United States. We have about 200,000 acres of land here in South Carolina, and our largest acreage ownership (about 19,000 acres) is here in Fairfield County,” Reece said.

He continued to explain that the Plum Creek Foundation grants requests for funds that would enhance communities, strengthen education, are for environmental causes and for the arts.

“We’ve made several donations to groups here in Winnsboro, most recently the Pine Tree Playhouse. We were able to make a donation there for some building repairs, and a year or so ago, we made a donation to a local food bank in town.

“I’m pleased to present a check for $2,000 for heart defibrillators. We have taken a serious look at our operation at Plum Creek and have considered placing some heart defibrillators in our offices,” Reece said.

He said the goal for the Plum Creek Foundation is to give out grants totaling about $1.5 million dollars annually across the U.S.

He urged the members of council and the community to “get the word out” about Plum Creek Foundation for other causes in the community.

“I enjoy the grant awarding part of the job,” he said. “We’ll review the grant applications and get back to the applicants.” Reece offered to help any organization seeking a grant with their requirements and what sort of elements of the grant application the Plum Creek Foundation is looking for.

In other business:

Building inspector Billy Castles told council he was continuing to work with Bill McMaster representing the Friends of Mt. Zion group, doing such things as exploring the engineering costs for the renovation and re-use of the school building;

Mayor Roger Gaddy and the members of council thanked development and grants administrator Connie Shackelford for her work on helping secure the Plum Creek Foundation grant;

Streets and Sanitation director Leon Adams spoke briefly on the vandalism at Martin Park; he said his crew is continuing to repair the vandalized equipment and the fence at the park. His crews are also working to eradicate the graffiti that has been showing up at different places in the Town. WDPS Chief Wayne Yates said the police have increased their patrols in the areas and have arrested some juveniles in connection with the vandalism cases.