DEMOPOLIS &8212; Seven county organizations will be presented Black Belt Arts Initiative Grants today in Selma at a ceremony hosted by the Black Belt Community Foundation.

The event will take place at the Central Alabama Farmers Co-Op at 11 a.m.

The groups receiving funds are the Demopolis Singers, Friends of Demopolis Public Library, Friends of Gaineswood, Marengo County Historical Society, Marengo County History and Archives Museum Foundation, Rural Heritage Foundation and YOUth LEAD.

The MCHS will be granted $5,000 by the BBCF, an organization that has distributed more than $700,000 across the Black Belt since 2005.

The BBCF was established in 2004 to serve the 12 counties of the Black Belt. The arts initiative was launched in 2006. Since that time, the group has issued more than $350,000 of grant money as part of the initiative.

The grant money is provided by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and his funneled through the BBCF, who determines which Black Belt organizations will receive funding.

This year, 56 community organizations in the region will receive $202,000 of ASCA through the BBCF.

While the BBCF is known for distributing money, Green also emphasized its necessity for receiving funding of its own.