Change through our spare change
When Daniel Island residents Carina Buckman and Amy Dietrich returned to their homes after evacuating from the path of Hurricane Matthew earlier this month, they did so with relief. Daniel Island had been spared from the storm’s devastation, so much so that when they got home they still had power, and Buckman, Dietrich and their two families were able to click on their respective television sets to watch the news. When they did so they were moved by images of another island community that didn’t fare so well in the storm - they were moved and saddened by the fate of the people of Haiti.
As colleagues on a planning team organizing Sunday school events for kids at St. Clare of Assisi, the two had become friends and were prone to brainstorming ideas, and upon returning to their homes Buckman and Dietrich got in touch. In talking about the storm, how lucky they felt, and how sad the case in Haiti was, the two Daniel Island mothers came up with an idea on how to do something tangible and positive for both the people for both communities, an idea through which the entire Daniel Island community could both express their thanks for being spared the storm, and too their sympathy to those who weren’t. They came up with an idea they’ve termed the “Change for Haiti” initiative.
The “Change for Haiti” initiative is based on the simple, timeless concept that when a community comes together even the smallest gestures of goodwill, when collected and tallied up, can turn into a whole lot for a community in need. Buckman and Dietrich have acquired, labeled, and located almost twenty large, empty water jugs at participating businesses and other locations across the island to provide for Daniel Islanders the opportunity to undertake the small gesture of goodwill that is emptying out one’s change drawer for a good cause.
Buckman and Dietrich have partnered up with stalwart Charleston non-profit Water Mission (formerly Water Missions International) for the initiative. At various points in time through Thanksgiving, the pair will be collecting and counting the change. The goal is to present Water Mission with a check to help them with their mission of providing residents of the island nation with clean, fresh drinking water with their proprietary on-site water purification systems.
So far, the pair have placed fifteen of the jugs at locations across Daniel Island including the Daniel Island Club, Fit Culture, Peace Love Hip Hop, Japan Karate Institute, the UPS Store, Threshold Pediatrics, Delta Pharmacy, Sandy’s Cleaners, the Juice Bar, Blondies, Island Expressions St. Clare of Assisi, Providence Baptist Church, Bishop England High School and Holy Cross. There will also be a collection point at the Saturday, October 22 Pumpkin Walk.
“We feel that we were lucky, and we do feel so grateful, and that everybody on the island would also like to do something to express that gratitude, even if it’s only to empty out their pockets of change. Sometimes we see these things on the news and we say ‘how can I possibly help? I’m just one person, how can one small action from me make a difference?’” said Buckman. “Well, perhaps if we all take the small action of cleaning out our change drawers it becomes one big action and can make a big difference.”
“We thought if we could get everyone to empty out their change drawers and bring it to one central location, it would probably add up to a lot of money without having a real financial impact on our residents, who already give to so many charities so generously.”
From the beginning the focus of the initiative was on Daniel Island families. The initiative’s concern is delivering fresh drinking water to the people of Haiti, but its secondary focus is as a learning tool for Daniel Island’s youth, said Buckman, herself a mother.
“Our children locally felt the fear of the impending storm, it was very real to them. We thought it would be nice to also have a charity initiative where the children could feel like they’ve made a positive change for somebody else. Having experienced that fear our children have made that connection and it just seems like a really good learning opportunity, an opportunity to say ‘thank you,’ that we weren’t impacted and to help those who were,” she said.
In keeping with the initiative’s focus on families, the pair recently added Bishop England High School as a participating sponsor and official collection point host. In addition to Bishop England, the group hopes to secure a partnership with Christ Our King to round out their effort to get area youth on board with the project.
The initiative got a boost earlier this week when it received the official backing of the Daniel Island Property Owners’ Association (DIPOA). The DIPOA recommended the project be registered with the Daniel Island Community Foundation, which will match any and all donations the charity generates up to $10,000.
“Daniel Island residents and businesses are incredibly generous during times of crisis and need in our local community as well as around the world,” said the DIPOA’s Jane Baker. “Thanks to the great idea of our residents, the Buckman family, to create “Change for Haiti”, the Daniel Island Community Foundation will match up to $10,000 in contributions made to the effort. Working together, we can send our support to the most vulnerable who were so devastatingly affected by Hurricane Matthew.”
The DIPOA isn’t the only community organization backing “Change for Haiti” however, a number of businesses have already stepped up and offered their help. The Daniel Island UPS Store generously donated the labels placed on twenty jugs, which Buckman and Dietrich acquired free of charge from fellow initiative supporters and water suppliers Diamond Springs and Appalachian Springs.
The community at large has been supportive of the initiative too. Buckman and Dietrich credit the DI Moms social media group for their support of the project, which said Buckman, made it easy on them as organizers.
“This has taken very little effort to put together. This is in no way going to be about me or Amy. This is about us as a community and us putting a small amount of effort in in order to give our community the opportunity to do something potentially really great,” said Buckman. “There’s a whole group of us working on this, this a true community team effort.”
Businesses interested in supporting the “Change for Haiti” initiative by hosting a water jug for donations should contact Buckman and Dietrich directly by email, at c_buckman@yahoo.com and amydietrich74@gmail.com respectively.
Water Mission is a nonprofit Christian engineering organization that designs, builds, and implements safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. With over 250 staff members working around the world in permanent country programs, Water Mission has since the organization formed in 2001, provided access to safe water for more than 3.1 million people in 52 countries. To learn more, visit watermission.org.
“Change for Haiti” Drop-off Locations
The Daniel Island Club, PLHH, Fit Culture, Japan Karate Institute (DI Dojo), UPS store, Threshold Pediatrics, Delta Pharmacy, Sandy’s Cleaners, Juice Bar, Blondies, Island Expressions, Bishop England High School, St. Clare of Assisi, Providence Baptist Church, and Holy Cross Church. There will also have be a collection point at the “Pumpkin Walk” on Saturday, October 22.
Haiti Information
The already poverty-stricken, Caribbean island nation of Haiti was devastated by Matthew when it struck on October 4. Still reeling from a 2010 earthquake that largely leveled the country’s physical infrastructure, more than 1,000 relatively exposed Haitians lost their lives in the hurricane. At present more than 1.4 million Haitian people are in need of emergency aid and access to safe water. On top of that, since the storm hit a cholera epidemic has broken out with more than 200 cases having already been reported, according to the World Health Organization.