Last Saturday morning, a few intrepid souls went out to Betsy Kerrison Parkway to try to help spruce up the main road into Seabrook. Special thanks go out to Bill Huff, Don Day, Joe Mangiulli and Rob Jerome for the tremendous job they did in removing almost 300 lbs. of trash from the roadsides. We were competing for volunteers with the Showcase of Homes. The next pick up will be in February and we hope to get more Seabrookers to come out with us then. Great job, guys!
-Submitted by Rich Siegel
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 5, the Adopt-a-Highway group will be helping to clean up our section of Betsy Kerrison Parkway.
If you would like to help (and we would greatly appreciate it if you would) we will be meeting in the Eagles’ Nest room of the Lake House at 8:30 AM to gather our supplies and carpool out to the parkway.
It’s a great way to help keep the entryway to Seabrook looking more inviting. For more information contact Rich Siegel at 843-573-7943 or by email at richard.siegel2552@gmail.com
-Submitted by Rich Siegel
At the 2016 year-end Turtle Patrol Party sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol received the award for the highest number of reported volunteer hours worked on sea turtle conservation.
The Award was accepted by Terry Fansler, Turtle Patrol Co-Leader, who represented Seabrook Island along with Lori Porwoll and Judy Benko.
The award is a testament to all the hard work and dedication to preserving our sea turtles by our turtle patrol members.
Submitted by Gary Fansler 
One of the most rewarding and enriching activities we can undertake is volunteering.
Helping others gives our lives a true sense of purpose, meaning and fulfillment. Not only does it connect us with others in a unique way, but it allows us to use our unique skills and abilities. Most importantly, it brings together as a community to improve our lives and those around us.
Volunteering brings out the best in all of us and generates positive goodwill, with no downside. It is truly the classic, win-win!
We would like to highlight three volunteer opportunities, The AARP Tax-Aide Program, The Art Program at the VA Hospital, and Habitat for Humanity. More opportunities can be found on the SIPOA website: https://sipoa.org/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities/
You can also submit your organization to be listed on the SIPOA website.
The AARP Tax-Aide Program
This program provides free personal income tax preparation to low and middle income tax payers, with special attention to those age 60 and older. They are seeking volunteers to train as Tax Counselors.
Tax counselors receive extensive free tax training and become IRS certified by passing the IRS exam. There will also be additional training in computer tax preparation.
You will help customers one-on-one at tax sites. Counselors are expected to be available for at least 4 hours per week during the February 1 to April 15, 2017 tax season.
Contact the Charleston District Recruitment Coordinator, Susan Ditterline, at 843-568-0305, or email sditterline@yahoo.com for more information.
This is an announcement for potential blood donors who may not have seen our notices elsewhere with information about Seabrook’s September Blood Drive. It will be held on Thursday, September 22nd at the Lake House from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Contact Pep Logan – 843-768-0334 or mlogan@bellsouth.net to schedule your appointment or just walk in at your convenience during the above hours. Blood supplies are low due to lack of summer donors, so please come and share in this important volunteer effort. You’ll feel good you did!
-Submitted by Pep Logan
The Junior Achievement Program in South Carolina currently offers programs to 10,000 students in 34 counties. Jen Rone Becker serves as the Lowcountry Area Director of JA and is currently establishing a Junior Achievement Program at St. Johns High School. She will be working with 12th graders and is soliciting adult volunteers to mentor our local seniors on financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship and to present programs that prepare young adults to succeed in the workforce.
Ms. Rone Becker welcomes all adults to participate in the Junior Achievement Program being established in our local high school. If you are interested in inspiring our young adults with your professional insights, please contact her at jeni.becker@ja.org.
Submitted by
Lori Leary
The Charleston County Board of Elections estimates that an addition 400 Poll Managers will be needed to ensure a smooth election on November 8, 2016. Any registered voter in Charleston County is eligible to serve as a Poll Manager. In addition, Poll Managers must participate in a training session – either online or in a classroom setting – and be willing to work the entire Election Day from 6:00 AM until 7:30 PM. Poll Managers will earn $120 for each election they work, however the intrinsic rewards are much greater. If you are interested in becoming a Poll Manager, please contact Pam McArthur or Kristie Burr of the Board of Elections at (843) 974-6421. Or you can contact me, George Reinhart at (843) 768-6794 or at greinhart@bellsouth.net. You will be glad that you did.
-Submitted by George Reinhart
C.H.I.P. Needs Power Tools
Do you have tools and equipment cluttering your home and storage space? Johns Island Presbyterian Church is looking for power tools that are in good working order be used in their CHIP (Community Home Improvement Project) Ministry. We help individual households on Johns and Wadmalaw Islands with needed repairs. This ministry began after the catastophic flooding last fall. Sadly, we have learned that there is a continuing need to help those in substandard housing make the repairs necessary to stay in their homes. The projects are ongoing, and so is our need for volunteers, construction materials and power tools. We are in particular need of power drills, jacks, and mitre saws. For more information, please contact Beth Dolby 248-761-7274 or Michael Orris at 843-513-0743.
-Submitted by Beth Dolby
Todd Gerhart, A Man with a Big Heart
“The world is not dangerous because of those that do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.” Albert Einstein
Todd Gerhart is a man who looks at the world very clearly and sees a lot of things that need doing. Why should a person living on these islands go hungry, he wonders? Why should a person be without decent clothes, a few sheets for the bed and some towels that still have nap on them? Yet all of this is happens on these islands, and most of us never see it.
Todd owns the Ice Cream Shop as well as the Ship Store in Bohicket Marina. He and his wife, Kathy, have lived here for nine years. They hail from Orville, Ohio, home of Smuckers jams and jellies.
He started taking notice of people on the island when a small family came into the Ice Cream shop selling honey baked ham cards. That prompted him to visit with the principal at Mt Zion. He discovered that the fifth graders were short on money for a trip to Washington, DC. He helped them to raise money and gave some himself. That small incident is what got him started on trying to help the kids that live and go to school on Johns Island, something that has become a lifelong endeavor.
He visits the schools in the area every few days. He noticed the youngsters do not have many books at home, so he has made efforts to help kids build a library of their own. He noticed that getting and staying on the honor roll was an effort that could use some attention, so he came up with the idea of giving the kids who made the honor roll or the Principal’s list some free ice cream.
All of this led him ultimately to Backpack Buddies, a non‐profit that operates on both Seabrook and Kiawah islands. Backpack supplies food for kids to take home with them over the week‐end so they will not go hungry while away from their school provided meals. It costs $195 to fund a backpack child for the school year. Todd and Kathy started the Chili Cook Off several years ago and have raised over $34,000 to help kids on the islands. He got companies to set up tables and make chili. He and his wife fund the expenses so that everything that he raises can go to Backpack Buddies. Todd was honored for his charitable works with the Angel Oak Award by the Exchange Club of Kiawah and Seabrook, and with that honor came $5,000. He split the check in two and gave the Seabrook and Kiawah island chapters of Backpack Buddies $2500 each.
He has found a way to recycle sheets and towels from rental agencies when they are discarding the old ones for newer models. He has delivered truckloads of these goods to many families on the island, supplying them with products they wouldn’t otherwise have.
Todd notes this can be a discouraging venture. Six of the eight worst high schools are in Charleston County. These high schools graduated 544 kids in 2015. Of those 544, only 9 were ACT ready for college. Todd serves on a Task Force for District Nine which includes Angel Oak, Mt. Zion, Haut Gap and St Johns High. The task force reports to the Charleston County School Board. In such a setting, it can prove difficult to get people to take accountability for various actions occurring at the school level, but he keeps at it nonetheless.
One of the nine children who graduated ready for college works for Todd at the Ice Cream shop. She has a 3.65 average and wants to go into accounting. He asked her what motivated her to do so well in high school. She said: “I don’t want to live like I’m living.”
That’s what keeps him going.
– Barbara Burgess, Tidelines Staff Writer
If you are looking for a simple but rewarding volunteer opportunity with preset dates four times a year, the Environmental Committee would like to hear from you.
A coordinator is needed for the Adopt a Highway Program. If you like to work with someone, co-coordinators, are just fine with the EC. Four times a year volunteers pick up trash along Betsy Kerrison Parkway.
The Parkway is the gateway to Seabrook and Kiawah. Without volunteers from our island and the Kiawah group, can you imagine what an eyesore visitors would behold on their way to our beautiful islands?
There is a long list of volunteers who have faithfully signed up for each pick up. The EC would be grateful if one or two of you would volunteer to coordinate this valuable program. If you are a new resident and looking for a volunteer opportunity, please contact us as well.
The next pick up is scheduled for September. Please contact Jane Marvin, 336-413-0704, if you are willing to help carry Adopt a Highway forward. No expert skills or experience needed; just an interest in performing a civic duty that enhances our environment and offers a valuable contribution to our community.
-Submitted by Jane Marvin EC Communications
Do you want to help provide visitors with essential Seabrook Island information this summer? The Club, Town, and SIPOA are initiating jointly the Just Ask Me? Program this month and looking for volunteers who are willing to answer questions and offer assistance to Seabrook Island renters and visitors.
What do you get for participating in the program? Your reward is the opportunity to share your knowledge of and love for Seabrook Island with others. You also get a cool Just Ask Me? hat and button, which you can wear when walking on the beach, bicycling around the Island, or dining at the Pelicans Nest. Your name, contact information, and home town will also be on a list that will be distributed by the Amenity Office to visitors.
This is an opportunity for you to share the strong sense of community we have on Seabrook Island. To volunteer, send an email to one of us below and you will be invited to an orientation session later this month.
Jerry Farber
Seabrook Island Club
jerryfarber17@gmail.com
Ed Jones
Seabrook Island POA
edj3@me.com
John Wells
Town of Seabrook Island
jwells@townofseabrookisland.org
On Saturday morning, April 30th the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol’s T Shirt Pick-up Party was held at the Oyster Catcher Community Center.
Turtle Patrol members picked up their official shocking pink Turtle Patrol T Shirts while socializing with fellow turtlers and sipping a complimentary Bloody Mary. They’ll be easy to spot on the beach when the season starts Sunday, May 8th.
If you are a Turtle Patrol member and were unable to pick up your shirt, you can get it from Bill and Linda Nelson. Contact them at (843) 768-0201.
Submitted by Gary Fansler
