Photo above: Pictured from left are Suzi Oliver, president, Rotary Club of Beaufort; Staff Sgt. Jessica C. Navarro, USMC, representing the Marine Corps Recruit Depot; Staff Sgt. Juan C. Maravilla, USMC, representing Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort; and Petty Officer Second Class Adam Henneman, representing the Naval Hospital Beaufort.
Rotary names service members of year
Unit commanders and their cadre from Beaufort’s three military installations recently nominated service men and women for recognition by the Rotary Club of Beaufort as their Service Members of the Year.
A committee comprised of Rotarians who are military veterans selected the most outstanding candidate from each of the installations, and they were honored at a military recognition ceremony hosted by the Rotary Club of Beaufort at its Nov. 8 luncheon meeting.
Criteria for selection emphasized outstanding military service and significant volunteer activities benefiting the local community.
Each received a plaque and a check for $200.
The recognition ceremony was preceded by a presentation of the U.S. flag and the flags of each of the military services conducted by a joint service color guard from area Jr. ROTC units – the Army from Bluffton High, the Marine Corps from Battery Creek and Whale Branch high schools; the Air Force by Beaufort High School; and the Navy by Hilton Head High School.
Program to help veterans, active duty and reserves
Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the formation of a new program to help veterans, active duty military and members of the reserves get free legal help.
The program is called V.A.L.O.R., which stands for Veterans, Active/Reserve LegalOutReach.
“The legal profession has always recognized it has a moral obligation to support those who defend the freedoms we treasure,” said Wilson, who’s also a colonel in the SC National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “This new program will better connect veterans and members of the military with the legal help they need and may not know where to get, or may not be able to afford.”
The program will consist of free legal clinics held around the state starting in January, and a referral line to connect veterans and members of the military with lawyers who will provide free or heavily-discounted legal help for problems too complex to be handled at the clinics.
The first free clinic will be held in January in Rock Hill, with the second scheduled for February in Florence. Subsequent clinics around the state will be announced at a later date.
Local jurist named head of SC judge association
Beaufort County Probate Judge Kenneth Fulp was recently installed as president of the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges at the association’s fall conference in Greenwood.
Fulp has served on the probate court bench in Beaufort County since 1999, first as associate probate judge and then as probate judge by gubernatorial appointment in 2012 and election in 2014.
He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1977, and practiced law in Virginia and South Carolina prior to his judicial service.
Second Helpings teams with Weichert Realtors
Weichert, Realtors-Coastal Properties has teamed up with Second Helpings and will be collecting non-perishable food items to supplement its Fill the Need campaign, which kicked off at Palmetto Breeze’s hub station in Bluffton in October.
Non-perishable food items include but are not limited to canned vegetables, fruit, soup, meats and tuna; plastic containers of peanut butter, jelly, pasta sauce; boxed meals, packages of pasta, rice, beans and rolled oats.
Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the Weichert office at 1613 North St. in Beaufort. Call 843-379-3010.
To learn more about Second Helpings and the Fill the Need program, visit www.secondhelpingslc.org.
Sisters of Charity award local grants
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina recently awarded Caritas grants for the fall 2017 grant cycle.
Locally, the Lowcountry Food Bank received funding to support Cooking Matters at the Store tours, a free program that empowers families to stretch their food budgets, maximize benefits through public nutrition programs, use nutrition information to make healthier choices, and cook tasty, affordable meals at home.
Additonally, the Sandalwood Community Food Pantry received funding to support its “Totes of Love for Seniors Project” providing seniors with a special tote bag that is filled each visit with healthy foods.
Caritas grants are awarded to organizations meeting fundamental needs of individuals and families living in poverty in South Carolina.
BJWSA’s Kilgore completes Water Leadership Institute
Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority Director of Treatment Operations Tricia H. Kilgore completed the Water Environment Federation’s Water Leadership Institute at WEFTEC in Chicago last month.
Kilgore has been with BJWSA since 2008, starting as a project engineer.
A graduate of Virginia Tech and Loughborough University, she has also worked as a drinking water regulator at the state level and as an engineering consultant in the private sector.
The Water Leadership Institute program is aimed at educating, training and providing opportunities that enable developing and emerging leaders to build strong lasting relationships within the water industry.
