WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — May 7th is the annual Midlands Gives Day, where donations made by community members will help support non profits in the area.
From clothes to school supplies, Midlands Orphan Relief is helping children in the area who are might be at risk or suffering from abuse, neglect or abandonment.
“Most of our children are brought to us with nothing. They're taken out of their home with nothing and when they come to us, we just try to brighten their day. Our clothing is donated from the community and we just want to make sure these children have all the things they need,” David Hall said.
Hall is the director of Midlands Orphan Relief, he says the organization is based out of Charleston but came to the midlands in 2021 to help tackle the need in the area.
“There is a huge need. It’s capital and we didn't think it was that bad, but when we got here one of our first cases was two boys that were getting suspended from school and they weren't coming to school at the same time so that's why they were getting suspended," Hall said. "We found out that they were using the same pair of shoes. One boy would go to school and then the other boy would put on the shoes the next day and go to school so we reached out to the community and it just came back in full force. They gave us tons of shoes and clothing for children.”
During packing days, volunteers will spend time picking out and packing items for children in need, Kathleen Stevens is one of those volunteers.
“I love to be able to pick out specific outfits. I will go through the kids needs, their sizes, and I will lay out outfits just like I would for my own children and that means a lot, that they get something that they will feel confident and when they go to school the next day,” she said.
The organization doesn’t provide services from their closet in West Columbia.
“We're in over 40 agencies that we help out. We also help our schools in the Midlands we're in 23 schools where they can call us if a child needs clothing. We'll place a care kit for them. We also have “just in case” closets, where we'll set up a small closet like this one in their school. If a child comes to the school with dirty clothes, they can just get a brand new shirt or brand new shoes," Hall said.
The nonprofit gets children their care kits within 24 to 48 hours, if not sooner.
“We want to fill this facility with brand new items for the children. We love used items but anyone loves brand new items and we want to fulfill more orders. We want to double our orders next year and Midlands Gives, gives us a chance to do that." Hall said. "This program is going to be something really big for us and we just want a lot of people to go out and donate not only just to us, but to the whole community in the midlands.”
The organization says you can donate to their website but donations through Midlands Gives is preferred as donations will be doubled by certain donors.