By Lee Scott
My husband and I met a woman recently who was telling us about all the organizations she and her husband volunteer for since they moved to the Lowcountry. Her husband helped with Second Helpings and had worked on two houses for Habitat for Humanity, and she too was involved with various non-profits. After she left I told my husband how impressed I was with their volunteer contributions and my husband said, “We write checks.” That is true.
Although we have volunteered with many non-profits throughout the years, we have not been as active lately. For years I put in many hours with the American Lung Association along with the Allergy and Asthma Foundation because of my son’s asthma. Then, as a banker, I was encouraged to serve on boards for non-profit organizations, volunteer for committees, and attend fundraising events. In addition, both my husband and I volunteered our time with other organizations we believed in and wanted to support. But now we are in the season of writing checks, which, I assured my spouse, was perfectly acceptable. Because as far as I know, most non-profits love the checks as much as they love all the volunteers.
It was then that I started to think about other groups besides non-profits that need our checks. The retail establishments, the restaurants, the hardware stores, and all those other businesses look to us citizens for support. They employ people and pay rent to landlords. Their presence and products add to the charm of Beaufort.
So, keeping this thought in mind, my friend Christine and I went downtown after Hurricane Florence to help our Beaufort merchants. Although all of us were relieved the storm did not hit us, the store owners got hit anyway – financially. It was a good time to spend money here in Beaufort instead of online.
As we walked into different shops we found that everyone was very appreciative we were there and commented about the economic hit. We were pleased to see so many other people strolling around with shopping bags. There was an air of festivity as we walked around Beaufort greeting neighbors we knew who had the same thought about spending money. It was also a Marine graduation day, so the restaurants were full of visiting families helping to boost sales.
Yes, the volunteers in our community are very important. They provide numerous hours of unpaid service to many organizations. But it does not undermine the need for cash donations. That is appreciated, too. As for the businesses downtown, they loved it when I asked, “Do you take a check?”
And just like all the non-profits they said, “We love checks.”
