A Glimpse of Kindness

The year in gifts and greatness from the Friends of Callawassie Island to the community at large.

“Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” Year after year, it’s what the Friends of Callawassie Island (FOCI) have been all about and are known for. It’s a very “Callawassie Island” spirit. The balance of like-minded members who have all been drawn together by the natural elements and the almost unnatural kindness of strangers, who become friends, and who become the Friends of Callawassie Island.

Sharing glimpses from FOCI’s 2024 impact from just a handful of their nearly 30 community partners they serve with donations raised through annual efforts and events:

FOCI presented Deep Well Project Directors Sandy Gillis and John a certificate and donation to aid with their work serving the local population in need of support and assistance. Deep Well meets them there in that need and FOCI strives to support the work they do, fixing damaged roofs, replacing leaking toilets, repairing treacherous porches/steps, and reboarding ruined flooring. Gifts such as FOCI’s assist Deep Well and their large pantry stocked with healthy foods and toiletries, from which products are distributed via a system based on client need.

In September 2024, Jim O’Brien representing FOCI met with Ryan Pye, Development & Fundraising Coordinator for Hospice Care of the Lowcountry, which provides care for those with terminal illnesses and provides grief management through Palliative Care. The center received a grant from FOCI earmarked for their “Good Deed” program with the goal of providing 300 care packages filled with comfortable clothing, sheets, blankets, slip resistant socks, senior safe activities (painting, word puzzles, etc.) and essential toiletries, compiled for senior citizens in care facilities in need of basic items.

O’Brien was joined by FOCI Secretary, Allen Cellar for their meeting with Kathy Cramer, Co-Director of the Special Olympics SC Area 8 to present this year’s grant, which was used to help with the purchase of the trailer to transport Kayaks for the 2 Special Olympic Kayak Clubs. Last year one of the program’s kayakers, Charlotte Lewis, went to Berlin, Germany to compete in the Special Olympics World Games and came back with the Gold Medal. She now has a dock at Shelter Cove named in her honor. Cramer and the Special Olympics Athletes greatly appreciate FOCI’s support to their program and the difference it makes for those in need.

FOCI President, Susan Silver and Treasurer, Scott Comes were able to meet with Lori Opozda from Help of Beaufort to get a tour of their new building which they’re aiming to occupy by the end of 2024. This facility would be a tremendous improvement over their previous location, growing from 800 sq ft to over 4500. Much of their construction materials (including all the lumber) and some labor was donated or offered at substantially reduced prices. FOCI representatives were able to discuss the plans for a garden to provide fresh vegetables for their food pantry, while also serving as a training area so clients could learn to build their own gardens, as well as future plans for outfitting the new building, including the need for considerably more food and clothing now that they have substantially increased storage space.

Carole Bartholomew, one of the original founders of Pockets of Sunshine, met with Silver and Comes, offering a tour of their industrial space that they’ll soon be trading up for a larger facility and offering the opportunity to watch about 15 of the “Rays” enthusiastically taking part in the day’s arts and crafts activity of wreath making, including materials they collected a few days before and during their efforts to help with local clean up after the hurricane. Bartholomew explained all the social events planned, which the FOCI grant helped to support, are open to the full complement of 80 Rays in the program.

Development Director of Bluffton Self Help Carlie Anselimi met with Director Jim O’Brien for a tour that started with “The Hub” where clients start themselves. Bluffton Self Help is home to 20 full-time employees and 360 volunteers that run a substantial pantry and a free clothing store. The FOCI Grant went towards their Learning and Literacy Center with programs liken their English As A Second Language (ESL) program, followed by their GED program. They have 373 students and there are 200 on the waiting list to get in. The instructors are all volunteers (many retired teachers) and costs approximately $1,200 per student for a full year’s study.

Dr. Jean Fruh’s group of seventh graders from Beaufort County Schools enjoyed kayaking at Wilson Village in Palmetto Bluff thanks to the Outside Foundation. Exposing 1323 middle school students per year to kayaking, bird watching, water testing, and the diversity of ocean life is part of the SC 7th grade environmental science county curriculum. It has also diversified into oyster shell recycling, an activity that garners 354 hours of volunteer work collecting over 1,347 pounds of liter from twenty-seven areas including beaches, schools and highways. Dottie Foote and Allen Cellar met with Dr. Fruh, who directs the foundation alongside Susan Dee, about a FOCI grant that will cover the program cost for all public-school students whose families cannot afford the entry fee. It is another example of FOCI supporting a mission such as Outside Foundation that works to “get kids outside and protect and preserve the local environment.”

Anne Caywood from Low Country Legal Volunteers was presented with a gift for five thousand dollars by FOCI Directors, Brian Jennings and Jennifer Withrow, as they commemorated twenty-five years of services to Beaufort and Jasper County this year. Relying solely on grants from local communities, such as Callawassie Island, Low Country Legal has donated over 2.75 million dollars in legal services since their inception. Last year, with three full time Solicitors and over twenty volunteers, LLC closed on almost two hundred cases.

Michelle Casey, the NAMI Lowcountry Board of Directors President in Bluffton gave an informative presentation of NAMI’s mission and purpose regarding mental health programs to FOCI representatives, Don Orso and Dottie Foote. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Lowcountry is mostly a volunteer run organization relying on community support to keep their mental health programs functioning. With 87 volunteers currently working with NAMI, FOCI grants will help increase the number of volunteers and provide monetary support to increase outreach into more areas of the surrounding communities.

It’s an amazing look back over the past 20 years when a group of Callawassie Island residents seeking to give back to neighboring communities in a meaningful way, formed Friends of Callawassie Island, Inc. (FOCI). Since then, under the stewardship of an all-volunteer Board of island residents, the mission of FOCI remains unchanged – to enhance the quality of life for those residing in the Lowcountry. To date, FOCI has distributed over $1,000,000 to more than 80 worthy organizations that provide much-needed services to underserved and disadvantaged individuals and families living in local Lowcountry communities.