Duke Energy’s District Manager Emily Tucker, presented Ms. Angela Caraway, executive director of the Caraway Foundation, with a $25,000 check to improve small businesses throughout Anson County
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
Many attended to show their support for Ansonville’s treasured Caraway Foundation.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
Many attended to show their support for Ansonville’s treasured Caraway Foundation.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
Duke Energy’s District Manager Emily Tucker, presented Ms. Angela Caraway, executive director of the Caraway Foundation, with a $25,000 check to improve small businesses throughout Anson County
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
ANSONVILLE — Last Wednesday, the Caraway Foundation received a lucrative visit from Duke Energy.
Armed with a giant check made out for $25,000, the District Manager of Duke Energy, Emily Tucker, dropped in to award the Mayor of Ansonville, Angela Caraway, with Duke Energy’s Small Business Support Grant.
This grant allows the Caraway Foundation to continue serving the community “through building renovations, purchasing needed equipment, technology and inventory assistance. These improvements are needed to further expand small business capabilities, grow revenue, and aid in developing and identifying future revenue streams.”
Speaking from her position as part of the philanthropic arm of Duke Energy, Tucker stated of Caraway, “We need more folks like this who see a need and choose to come back home and fill it.”
Tucker added that the Small Business Support Loan awards 30 million annually, funded through Duke Energy’s shareholders.
Forgetting that she had applied for the grant, Caraway initially believed the email she received from Duke Energy announcing the Caraway Foundation as a recipient to be a scam. She smiles, remembering the surreal moment when belief set in, recalling “next thing you know I was screaming in my office.”
Caraway, who left Anson County to attend NC State University and did not return until a few years ago, has since been steadfast in her continued commitment to the community that shaped her.
Sharing the Caraway Foundation’s humble origins, the mayor looks back in time with surprise and bemusement at a long ago trip to the grocery store, not long after returning home to Anson, that changed her life.
Most of us do not have life altering epiphanies in the egg aisle, but Mayor Caraway, who was only shopping for eggs, milk, and cheese that fateful day, found her life changing moment in the form of a grocery cart filled with backpacks marked 75 percent off at the end the aisle she was shopping in.
Never one to pass up a good sale, she grabbed backpacks by the fistful.
Proudly carrying home her bounty, Caraway sat down and began outlining how she could make a difference, starting with her score on discounted backpacks.
Not long after, the non-profit Caraway Foundation found its cozy and inviting home inside the little brick building on US 52.
Several county leaders came by Wednesday to show their support for Ansonville’s treasured mayor, including North Carolina State Representative Mark Brody, and members of Brothers For Life.
Praised by those who know the mayor best, PR Designs Paula Richardson, who counts herself blessed to have an office at the Caraway Foundation, remarked, “Angela gave me the opportunity to have an office here a few years ago… it has allowed me to see her heart for cultivating small businesses. I could not have done it without her… her dedication shows in all she does.”
Caraway’s mother added, “My child could have done anything else, don’t too many people think about their fellow man… and that is Angela. She is always thinking about someone else.”
