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| After years of running on little more than instincts and good will, Bluffton Self Help is beginning to practice what it preaches. For the first time in its 20-year history, the nonprofit charity is planning ways to raise money it needs to help keep its doors open, spread the word about its services, and continue to pay for its first salaried executive director. "We are learning to do for ourselves what we ask our clients to do for themselves: self help," said Margaret Sanders, chairwoman of Bluffton Self Help's board of directors. The organization's first large-scale fund-raising endeavor, an oyster roast at the Bluffton Oyster Co. netted $1,500 toward its goal of more than $20,000 -- a number that Sanders calls "enormous for us." Unexpected bad weather kept the crowd to about 100 and pushed the party inside the oyster-shucking house. But Sanders considered the event a success. "For the first shot out of the cannon," she said, "I don't think ($1,500) is too bad." The organization, started in 1987 by Bluffton resident Ida Martin to feed, clothe and otherwise assist the town's needy residents, has relied on local grants and other charitable donations in the past. But the charity's board of directors decided it needed to bolster those grant money reserves with its own contributions. "We set for ourselves a challenge: to get serious about fund-raising," Sanders said. "Because Bluffton is growing so rapidly, and we're getting so many different people in the community, our outreach has to be slightly broader," Saunders said. "In order to do that, we need additional funding. Time changes everything," Saunders said. "Before, the board did more policy setting. Now, we want to get out there and see what services need to be out there." Besides serving as a food bank and giving away needed clothes, shoes and linens, Bluffton Self Help gives financial assistance to those in need. Residents can ask for money only once in a 12-month period, Haney said, and they are asked to contribute part of the bill themselves. "My first question to these people always is, 'How much do you have towards this bill?' " Haney said. Last year 294 people were helped financially by the charity, she said. To be able to continue that service, Self Help has to step up to the fund-raising plate. "We really are low on funds, we're seriously low on funds," Haney said. Besides money, the board of directors wants to spread the word about what the charity does -- and how important it is. "There's an amazing amount of ignorance around here about the need," Sanders said. "There's a perception that this is a rich, well-to-do part of the world, and we're not yet doing a good enough job to raise the awareness level about the need here." In recent years the charity's hours have been extended to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Haney also added to the 20-person volunteer staff and has bi-lingual volunteers to better serve the Hispanic residents who come in for help. Haney's goal is for the long-standing Bluffton charity to help as many people as it can. "This is a passion," she said of her job. "It's such a wonderful opportunity to give something back."  |
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