Among 115 independent bookstores sharing a $1.1 million grant is Neighborhood Comics in Savannah. The ‘Survive to Thrive’ bookstore grant is by the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
The grant recipients were determined by a juried application process, and winners will receive up to $10,000 in capital. The goal of the grant program is to assist independent bookstores that are prepared to make a strong recovery from the pandemic.
“Bookstores and comic shops are vital to the cultural and economic fabric of their communities, and by helping to retain these community anchors, we are helping to preserve the literacy, economic and social benefits bookstores and comic shops provide,” said Pamela French, Binc’s Executive Director. “Every bookstore and comic shop is important to their community, and we are delighted to help as many as we can.”
A gift of $500,000 given jointly by Ingram Charities and Ingram Content Group helped launch the Survive to Thrive initiative in March. Survive to Thrive received strong support from across the publishing and bookselling communities with leading gifts from Bookshop.org, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
“This generous grant provides Neighborhood Comics a secure foundation to forge ahead with our digital outreach initiatives, expanding our ‘neighborhood’ from around town to around the globe,” said Lee Heidel, Owner at Neighborhood Comics. “Our mission is to share the art, culture and pure joy that comics can provide. Our sincere thanks to Binc and its donors for helping us fulfill this mission.”
Visit Binc.com for the full press release and list of winners: bincfoundation.org/survive-to-thrive-gives-1-1m-in-grants-to-115-stores. Editors Note: Lee Heidel contributed to this article.