By Mike McCombs
Let’s face it. We could have been just like everyone else.
The Island News got lucky.
Back in the spring of 2020, Cindy “CJ” Lamprecht had been posting messages on a chalkboard in her front yard for only a few months. She had not yet started collecting donations of any sort for any charity.
Though I had reservations about her, for no tangible reason, I halfheartedly suggested we feature The Beaufort Chalkboard in The Island News.
“Wanna write something about the chalkboard lady,” I said … or something like that.
Mindy Lucas, then our reporter, gave a less than enthusiastic response.
“Eh … she writes sentences on a chalkboard. I’m not all that impressed,” she said … or something close to that.
And if you know Mindy, in your imagination, you can hear the absence of enthusiasm spread all over that response like jelly on toast.
That was it. Our coverage decision on The Beaufort Chalkboard had been made in a roughly three-sentence conversation.
Turns out that decision wasn’t final.
Over the next three years, Beaufort’s daily newspaper, a handful of television stations, at least one magazine and even a local telephone directory lauded Lamprecht’s initiative. (I’m glad we didn’t play catch-up.) And countless good-hearted and giving people celebrated her chalkboard messages, and then responded with money and goods to her calls for charity.
I’m certain not all of her endeavors were nefarious. In fact, I know they couldn’t have been. Clearly, she did some good. She had to. She had to gain people’s trust.
But only in the past few weeks did it become apparent to more than a few that Lamprecht had been fooling us all. Even some of her close friends and her husband felt the sting of her deceit.
And now we also know that this isn’t the first time she’s taken advantage of those around her who simply wanted to help people.
It was a combination of the bad in Lamprecht and the good in a lot of others that was her downfall here.
Right to the end of her reign in Beaufort, she continued to pile lie on top of lie, with almost no concern for the ability to maintain those lies. She continued to insist she had a registered 501(c)(3) despite assurances to those who asked the Secretary of State’s office that she had never applied for one.
And she told a writer that a good friend helped her get that 501(c)(3), and she insisted that fact be in her story. And that mistake cost her.
But even bigger was the willingness of people to talk about what Lamprecht had done, how she had misled them, how she had evaded questions, deleted social media posts when she was called out, and, with the help of a couple of friends, intimidated and bullied those who dared to continue to question her “pure heart.”
It was those people who lodged complaints with the Secretary of State’s office. It was those people who started sharing information with those who would listen and had the power to do something about it.
Lamprecht’s deeds here surely damaged the trust of a lot of people. How much is hard to say. But she made the job of nonprofits, to convince others to give of their time, money and goods to help others, all that much more difficult.
However, the same people who were willing to push back against Lamprecht have the opportunity to stop her from doing this one more time somewhere else.
Shannon Wiley, General Counsel and Public Information Director for Secretary of State Mark Hammond, said they will begin to look into Lamprecht’s personal finances.
“Our intention is to go ahead and see what accounts we could go ahead and subpoena,” Wiley told Delayna Earley in a phone call.
But no matter what Hammond’s office finds, the burden of prosecuting Lamprecht falls to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).
BCSO Spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens, when asked for comment on any potential prosecution stemming from this case, issued a statement saying the BCSO would investigate any claims of theft or fraud brought to their attention.
“If the investigation determines that a criminal act was committed and probable cause exists for an arrest, then we will pursue a warrant(s) for the appropriate statutory violation according to the South Carolina Code of Conduct,” she said.
But talking to the newspaper on the record or commenting on a Facebook thread simply isn’t enough. To prosecute, we have to have the evidence, Viens said.
If the Beaufort community is to be the last community Lamprecht takes for an unwanted ride, people will once again have to step up.
If you gave any money to Lamprecht – either by cash, check or by Go Fund Me – talk to the BCSO. If you donated goods, kid’s bikes for example, talk to the BCSO. If you gave something and have any reason to believe it didn’t go where it was supposed to, talk to the BCSO. If you’re unsure about any kind of contribution you made to Lamprecht, talk to the BCSO.
Even if your contribution seems small, they can add up and prevent Cindy Lamprecht from doing this to the next town.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
