Sep

21

2004

From The Blog

Kiawah Residents Contribute to Charleston

One of the things that makes Kiawah a unique place to live is its proximity to Charleston. Residents consider themselves as a part of the Charleston community and contribute in many ways to local institutions.

Perhaps the best-known fundraisers are the house tours held on Kiawah. Gibbes, Etc., an organization of Kiawah women, annually holds an Art and House tour. This year the group donated $76,500 to the Gibbes Museum of Art. Gibbes Etc.’s contributions have helped sponsor the Red Grooms exhibit and the Leo Twiggs exhibit at the museum. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra League has also held Kiawah house tours and this past year arranged for dinner/symphony evenings where chartered busses carried Kiawah residents from on island locations to the symphony. Through these and other efforts, this year the CSOL gave $353,955 to the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Several members of the Kiawah community serve on the Advisory Board of the historic Hebron Church on Bohicket Road and organize the annual Gullah Gala which raises funds to restore the church building so that it can be used as a Senior Center for Johns Island seniors. The church was built by freed slaves from wood recovered from shipwrecks off of Kiawah and Seabrook. To date, the group has raised approximately $50,000 toward their goal.

Last spring, Kiawah Island Real Estate offered to match dollar-for-dollar up to $125,000 towards the capital campaign of the new Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry. The museum’s mission is to spark a love of learning in all children of the tri-county area through interactive, interdisciplinary, hands-on environments and experiences with the arts, sciences and humanities. To date, the Kiawah community has raised over $54,000.

Kiawah residents contribute to the community in other ways that may not be as well known and publicized. For example, the POPs’ Book Club donated funds to the new Johns Island Library for the purchase of children’s books. The POPs’ Alternatives group prepares and delivers meals to the Ronald McDonald House. Each year many islanders donate school supplies to Mt. Zion School on River Road or serve there as classroom volunteers. A group of Kiawah women built houses as volunteers with the Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program.

These are but a few of the many ways that Kiawah contributes to the greater Charleston community.