1. Things ain’t looking too good for the home team: Gullah Geechee families like Eddie Grant, Jr.’s on Hilton Head Island, (left), have been able to keep their land. But many other families near them have fallen like dominoes in the face of upscale development, gentrification, and skyrocketing property taxes.

2. If land rich, but cash poor Gullah/Geechee families lose the land passed down to them by their ancestors, they face becoming homeless, or permanently displaced because they simply can’t afford to replace the highly-coveted land they’ve lived on for generations.

3. Your donation will provide seed money for creating a long-term financial solution to Gullah Geechee land retention. Fish frys; bake sales; yard sales; dinners; raffles; non-renewable timber harvesting; and the sale of agricultural products and seafood just won’t be enough to cover ever-increasing future tax assessments.

4. An Annual Taxpayer Lottery will be established to give one-time, one-year tax payment grants to allow Gullah Geechee households to transition to paying their taxes in installments. That will prevent them from ever facing the possibly of the sale of their land at a Delinquent Tax Sale or auction! No fees will be charged to enter the Taxpayer Lottery. But entrants must take a taxpayer class, and save two installment payments on their taxes to be eligible.

5. You can help reverse the flood of African-American land loss: In 1910, Blacks owned an estimated 15-million acres of farmland, and between 3-million and 4-million non-farm acres of land. But by 1997, their farmland ownership plummeted to just 2.4-million acres, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. In 1999, the Agriculture, Economics, and Land Ownership Survey of the USDA arm of the Census Bureau found just 68,000 rural Black landowners with 7.7-million acres of land, or less than 1% of all privately held land in the U.S.!

6. Much-needed support and referral services for families in need of legal assistance will be funded by your donations.

7. Displaced families will receive help with relocation to affordable housing.

8. Homes and land lost during Delinquent Tax Sales will be redeemed and kept by their original owners.

9. Property owners will be educated about various methods of saving to pay their taxes; lowering their taxes; tax exemptions; and how to apply for Installment Property Tax Payments where they’re allowed by state law and county ordinances.

10. You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve helped to preserve Gullah/Geechee land for present and future generations.

For all of the reasons above and more, this is a worthy cause! So hurry and make your tax-deductible donation today! IF YOU”RE LOOKING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE–THIS IS IT!!!!

To read more about how PAFEN is helping Gullah Geechee landowners right now, click here: ‘Our Angel’: New group seeks to help Gullah families reclaim their property.

All your donations are tax deductible, whether you use the donate button below or choose to donate on our GoFundMe page. The only difference is that you can choose to make your donation publicly displayed on the GoFundMe page. If you use the donate button below (in the footer), the receipt for your tax-deductible donation will be sent to your email address. Donations of every size are greatly appreciated!!