Monday, May 23, 2011

Dedication of Veterans Panel in Hartsville

 

A great community event in Hartsville, South Carolina, this past Sunday, as the third wall of the Veteran's Memorial was dedicated. The Veterans Memorial, one of the largest in South Carolina, is located at Burry Park in downtown Hartsville. It is a memorial to all veterans as well as active military personnel. More than 200 people braved the Sunday afternoon heat to be part of this dedication. The Memorial itself was dedicated on November 11, 2010. The 246th Army Band was a highlight of the event. David L. Allen, a veteran of World War II gave the Keynote, a great discussion of Patriotism. I enjoyed this event for several reasons and primary among them is the way events like this help bring the community together.
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Believing in your community is fundamental to building your community

The past few days there has been some news about a variety of things taking place within the city that show leaders are moving to affect change that they believe will be important to moving us forward as a community.

For example, last night the Hartsville City Council took some steps to chanhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifge the way citizens need to handle the recycling and garbage -- they are hoping to eliminate the "Yellow Bag" program in the city of Hartsville.

This has been on the Mayor's agenda since he started running for the job. His talks with citizens reinforced his idea of the need to get rid of the Yellow bags because he found so many people who find them so aggravating. But, as the Mayor found out when he began his attack on this issue -- nothing is as simple as it seems.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The result of the focus on "yellow bags" is a partnership that has come about between the City of Hartsville and Sonoco aimed at expanding recycling in the community while adding to the efficiency of recycling and garbage collection. (This is not an issue on which I feel any competence but it is an issue that I think helps exemplify what it takes to affect positive change in a community.)

There are a lot of elements involved in this type of change and to affect change of this scope it takes people from differing areas demonstrating belief in process, demonstrating belief that others will cooperate, demonstrating belief thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhat the community is worth investing in with time, talent and treasure. Sonoco uses recycled materials for lots of their products and they became willing to collaborate. The mayor and city council members began to see how doing things a bit differently might result in doing things even better. The new city manager helped lots of people look at more than just the immediate issue and on Monday night a major step was taken to eliminate the aggravating yellow bags. While this issue may not yet be totally resolved, it is on example of how believing you can make a difference can result in actually making a difference. Rich Harwood, of the Harwood Institute, who often discusses community building does a good job of discussing this question of belief in his current blog.
The following is a paragraph from this blog and I find it important because without people reaching out to one another and beyond their initial reaction to an issue, nothing can be accomplished. This is what Rich Harwood writes: "The restoration of belief in ourselves and in one another is pivotal to all our efforts to make a difference in communities. Without such belief, we may hold back from doing what we know is required to bring about change; we may choose not to reach out and forge key relationships with others; we may step back just when we need to step forward."

In Hartsville we have a strong need to continue stepping forward!

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Disasters need philanthropic response

A news release from the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation underlines the idea that community foundations can often be excellent places for your donations to areas hit by disasters. The following release was posted today, May 5, by Susan Bankston of the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation that serves the seven counties of the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina:

Disaster Relief Funds in Alabama and the Pee Dee Region

The tornadoes in the southeast last week left hundreds of individuals homeless and helpless. Volunteers and donations began pouring in within 24 hours to offer assistance and comfort to those affected by the devastation. The Pee Dee Disaster Relief Fund of the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation (ECCF) was established for just such a purpose when natural disasters strike the Pee Dee region. When tornadoes damaged homes in Darlington in 2010, a grant of $3,500 from this fund was matched by the City of Darlington and used for roof repairs on several homes.



Local community foundations are a natural fit for such responses. Should you wish to respond to the need in Alabama, The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has established the Alabama Tornado Recovery Fund to accept gifts that will in turn be used throughout the state in the regions impacted by the April 27 tornadoes. They will work to effectively deploy the resources that will be needed for long-term recovery. The Alabama Tornado Recovery Fund at The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham follows a model used by community foundations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. You can link to their homepage at www.foundationbirmingham.org. Please consider a gift to the ECCF Pee Dee Disaster Relief Fund so that we are poised to respond when natural disaster relief funds are needed in our own communities. Further information is available at our website www.easterncarolinacf.org or by calling 843-667-1131.

Susan B. Bankson

Executive Director

Eastern Carolina Community Foundation

234 West Cheves Street

Florence, SC 29501

843-667-1131

susan@easterncarolinacf.org

Full disclosure -- I have been on the board of the ECCF just about since the founding though my term ends at the end of May.