Farmer to lead Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry during CEO search

Farmer replaces Jean Washington, the organization's executive director, who died Nov. 27 from pancreatic cancer at her Bluffton home.

Farmer is on the board of directors of the umbrella organization and also serves as board president of the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island. He will take a leave of absence from both boards and will help recruit a permanent replacement, according to a news release Monday.

A Hilton Head Island resident for eight years, he is a former chairman of the Palmetto Chapter of the American Red Cross, a former chairman of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Leadership Board of Regents and has been a volunteer at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry consists of clubs on Hilton Head, Coosaw and Lady's islands, and in Beaufort, Bluffton, Sheldon and Ridgeland. The clubs have a total membership of 2,400 and serve about 1,000 young people each day, the release said.

Washington, who was 68, retired in 1999 as director of marketing service for Kraft Foods Inc. She relocated to Bluffton and joined the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Bluffton. In 2003, she became the executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry.