datacenters.atmeta.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 10:15 am

The Forest City Data Center Community Action Grants program, Meta provides funding for nonprofits and schools to support the long-term vitality of Cleveland, Henderson, McDowell, Rutherford, and Polk counties.

"We fund projects that address critical community needs by putting technology to use for community benefit, enabling people to build strong, sustainable communities and improving local science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education," said a Data Center spokesperson.

The Forest City Data Center's grants provide direct funding for projects that make a positive impact on the local communities. Across the country, Meta is awarded 328 grants that will help local projects. To date, Meta has supported 3,700 projects globally through more than $94 million allocated in direct funding to local data center communities.

The 2026 Forest City Data Center grant recipients are:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland County

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Rutherford County

• Cleveland County Arts Council

• East Rutherford Middle School

• Explore Forest City

• Foothills Community School

• Henderson County Education Foundation

• 9496 LYNK Robotics

• Isothermal Community College

• Norris Library Foundation

• REIGN - Rutherford Education, Innovation, & Growth Network

• Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation

• Rutherford Outdoor Coalition

• Rutherfordton Elementary

• STEM West

The Rutherford County grant recipients' summary of programs are:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Rutherford County To establish a technology-rich SmartLab that provides youth with hands-on, project-based experiences in robotics, coding and engineering design.

• East Rutherford Middle School To integrate entrepreneurship and STEAM skills through a student-led coffee shop utilizing digital marketing, inventory software and 3D-designed branding.

• Explore Forest City To modernize the Forest City Clubhouse with advanced audiovisual technology that enhances public accessibility, visibility and inclusive community programming.

• LYNK Robotics To provide rural students with professional mentorship and industry-grade fabrication tools that bridge the gap to high-demand engineering careers.

• Isothermal Community College To launch a centralized AI hub equipped with GPU-accelerated workstations for training machine learning models and analyzing autonomous drone data.

• Norris Library Foundation To eliminate financial and language barriers to science education by providing free community access to telescopes, microscopes and bilingual STEAM kits.

• R.E.I.G.N. Rutherford Education, Innovation & Growth Network To catalyze a regional AI ecosystem by training instructors, launching literacy workshops and integrating AI readiness into local startup development.

• Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation To accelerate district-wide AI literacy and robotics participation through student-led summer enrichment camps and modernized high school engineering labs.

• Rutherford Outdoor Coalition To empower the next generation of river stewards through hands-on water quality testing and watershed restoration efforts focused on environmental resilience.

• Rutherfordton Elementary School To ignite a love for electrical engineering by integrating Snap Circuit kits into hands-on collaborative lessons for students across all primary grade levels.

• STEM West To immerse rural and underserved students in local STEM career pathways through interactive rotations with industry partners and college faculty.