Athens High School and the Athens State University Foundation were each awarded $2,000 grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The grants were part of $100,000 in youth literacy grants awarded to Alabama schools and nonprofit organizations. The statewide grants were part of more than $3.4 million awarded nationally by the foundation.

To date, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $159 million in grants.

According to a press release, the grants “provide financial funding to teachers, libraries and literacy organizations to support a successful academic year throughout the 44 states Dollar General serves.”

Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer, said Dollar General’s mission is “Helping Others,” which occurs through the literacy foundation grants that will impact thousands of students across the country.

“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to be an ardent supporter of schools, libraries and nonprofit literacy organizations,” he said.

Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, was functionally illiterate and never completed a formal education. In 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation was established in his honor and has since helped more than 10 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.

Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds to organizations located within a 20-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center. Dollar General has 17 stores in Limestone County.

Grant applications for 2019 youth, summer, family and adult literacy programs will be available Jan. 2.