Charleston Sertoma Club Charleston Sertoma Club Mission

Supported Charities

Charleston Sertoma supports several charities, mostly in the Charleston area.  A primary focus of our efforts is with charities that involve "Kids Helping Kids".  Here is a list of our supported charities in 2007

Charities 

  • Camp Sertoma
  • Eagle Harbor
  • Happy Days & Special Times
  • Ronald McDonald House
  • Sertoma Foundation
  • Special Olympics
  • Windwood Farm
  • SC Scottish Rite Centers

 

Charity Overview

Windwood Farms

Their vision is “to provide family focused, community-centered therapeutic interventions that will enable a child to be successful and productive in his life and in his community.” They provide a home for @32 boys ages 8 to 16.

The farm is located in the Awendaw area on the Wando River. The Sertoma Club of Charleston has funded an educational facility for the boys to assist them in their transition back to a normal life.

Click here to see Windwood Farm's letter to Sertoma (pdf)

Camp Sertoma

Camp provides opportunities for fun, skills development, and education for 240 children each summer. Boys and girls, ages 7 to 13, are divided into 5 cabins (8 campers and 2 counselors per cabin). There are 6 one week sessions. Some sessions are for disadvantaged children while others are for the hearing or speech impaired. These children are placed in an entirely new and exciting setting where they can enjoy the company of others in group activities or play and work alone or in small groups. Campers learn independence and responsibility while having fun. They are encouraged to do things for themselves. With the proper amount of skilled supervision they might learn to build a campfire, cook a simple meal, or build a raft. In addition to personal and housekeeping chores, the campers engage in such activities as nature hikes, archery, sailing, campfires, cookouts, fishing, boat rides, instructional swims, overnight camping trips, recreational games and skits, sports, singing, arts and crafts, and numerous other activities.

Special Olympics

Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization* dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. Special Olympics offer children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition.

Eagle Harbor Boys Ranch

Eagle Harbor is a Christian home and a place of refuge and shelter for children ages 6-21 who are orphaned, abandoned, abused or neglected, with the mission of empowering each child to rise above their past circumstances through love, structure, and an opportunity to succeed and become productive citizens. Eagle Harbor is now "home" to 16 boys.  For more info, visit www.eagleharborkids.org

SC Scottish Rite Centers

The organization was founded in 1987 to support the needs of children with speech and language disorders at no charge to the families. 99% of it’s the money they raise goes directly to childhood language services.

Happy Days and Special Times

Camp Happy Days is the flagship event for children diagnosed with cancer and their siblings. This is an incredible experience designed to provide the most unique opportunity possible for cancer kids and siblings to experience a year’s worth of life in one week. During the day they access a waterfront teaming with swimming, a waterslide, boating, tubing and fishing. And there are special program areas such as woodworking, arts and crafts, painting, sewing, baking, ceramics, a giant climbing wall, a high ropes adventure courses and team building games designed specifically for Camp Happy Days. At night they will experience stunning theme dances, professional entertainment and classic camp experiences.
This event is for all cancer children and siblings who are between the ages of 4-16 or age 17 if they have never attended Camp Happy Days in the past. 

The Ronald McDonald House of Charleston

The Ronald McDonald House of Charleston provides a "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children. Ronald McDonald House Charities is an independent non-profit organization. In every level of the Charity, the involvement from McDonald's owner/operators, their suppliers, employees and customers is apparent. The Charleston Area McDonald's supports Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston through promotional and fundraising events. Restaurants also have canister collections at registers and drive thru windows. The Charleston Area McDonald's owner/operators serve on the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston Board and volunteer with their co-workers and employees at House events. Although McDonald's supports the Charity, additional funding from local groups, organizations, volunteers and corporations is crucial to the ongoing success of RMHC. 

Sertoma Foundation

The Sertoma Foundation, an International charity, believes that universal communication, whether heard, seen or spoken, is the key to human understanding. The purpose of the Sertoma Foundation is to support Sertoma’s approved charitable and educational programs of our Sertoma Family through effective fundraising, investment of funds and the distribution of proceeds. Through the financial support of Sertoma’s programs, we become the catalysts for greater human understanding and SERvice TO MAnkind.

The primary fundraiser for the Sertoma Club of Charleston is The Sertoma High School Football Classic held in mid-August every year.

All of the profits from this fundraising event are donated to charities, as the Sertoma Club of Charleston is an all-volunteer civic service organization.