From The Blog

Kiawah Cares: Supersize Your Kiawah Experience

Here is an idea to make your time at Kiawah even more rewarding. Just across the Kiawah River are two communities, Johns and Wadmalaw Island. They have warm, inviting and hard-working
residents but for most, their needs are markedly greater than ours. Their general health, income, and education fall well short of ours. In fact, they may fall well short of the national average. Their challenges are precisely why Kiawah Cares exists. It facilitates Kiawah hands reaching from our community to theirs. Further, by working with them, we demonstrate what we have always known, that we care about them, not just about enjoying leisure time in a gated community. Of course, as any volunteer knows, the benefits are not a one-way street. Every Kiawah volunteer has come away from the experience feeling rewarded and more grounded in the nature of life itself!

How can you have this opportunity? Kiawah Cares needs a large cadre of volunteers stepping forward to say, “I want to make a difference in the lives of Johns and Wadmalaw Island residents!” Kiawah Cares participates in a variety of volunteer activities throughout the year, and a current list of upcoming opportunities and support requests can be found at www.kica.us (Inside KICA/Kiawah Cares). To sign up to volunteer or even be a team leader at any of these events, contact [email protected] or call 843-768-9194.

A second way you can contribute is by becoming a staff advisor through the Kiawah Cares Resource Directory. On the website is a resource directory form that identifies areas of professional expertise and personal interests of KICA’s members. Many organizations have very specific needs (perhaps event planning, business plans, construction) and the resource directory will provide staff with the ability to reach out to knowledgeable KICA members for advice. The resource directory is confidential; it will not be published and will be used only by senior staff members seeking advice for some aspect of a project. For example, the advice of an event planner was needed for the Convoy of Hope project.

Kiawah Cares volunteers are not required to be a part of the resource directory, but it offers another way to use your strengths and interests to benefit the greater community. The resource directory form can be found at www.kica.us (Inside KICA/Kiawah Cares). Registering for the staff’s resource directory does not commit you to volunteering at any event; more likely you would receive an email from staff when they needed advice in your area of expertise. Finally, many part-time residents believe that they cannot help. Yet in many instances the volunteers are mostly part-time (such as the Habitat build during July 4th week). Just indicate on the form when you will be on island or email [email protected] and let staff know when you are coming and what your interests are. A growing national trend is for families to spend part of their vacation time helping others and receiving a rewarding family experience!