Donations key to successful holiday season for Bluffton Self Help

Providing more than 400 families with Thanksgiving dinners requires a team effort from Bluffton Self Help's 160 volunteers -- and an awful lot of turkey.

So when executive director Lili Coleman opened the freezers at Bluffton Self Help this week and realized she would be 20 birds short, she called one of the many good Samaritans who help the nonprofit organization each holiday.

"They asked if we needed turkeys and delivered the 20 we were short," she said. "They're our 'food fairies,' helping us out when we need it."

It's just one of many stories of generosity the nonprofit can tell this year. Another donor, a Hampton Lake resident who asked to remain anonymous, donated 50 turkeys, Coleman said.

On Monday, as volunteers distributed Thanksgiving dinners to needy residents, a truck from Coastal Shores Landscaping pulled up with 1,900 pounds of food loaded in a trailer. The company had conducted a food drive and matched the nearly 1,000 pounds its customers donated, Self Help assistant director Julie Jones said.

Thousands of pounds of food have been donated to the charity in recent weeks, filling up a pantry that was nearly empty a month ago, operations manager Kelli Normoyle said. The donations are crucial for Self Help, which weekly gives out 12 to 16 pounds of food each to about 120 people.

"We have been beyond blessed with the generous donations we've received," Normoyle said.

Through Tuesday, Bluffton Self Help had given 368 Thanksgiving meals to needy town residents, with another 70 still signed up. About 20 are homebound and have their meals delivered by board member Constance Martin-Whitter, continuing the tradition of her grandmother, Ida Martin, who founded the charity and delivered meals, Coleman said. Martin, who received the Presidential Citizens Medal for her charity work, died in 2013.

This year for the first time, Bluffton Self Help surveyed its recipients. About 56 percent received aid in 2013, and about 33 percent said they wouldn't have a Thanksgiving dinner without Bluffton Self Help.

Some of those helped over the years have returned to donate, like a father and his two young sons who brought in turkeys last week, Normoyle said. The man had moved to the area after his wife's death, and bringing the turkeys helped continue his wife's lesson to her sons to give back during Thanksgiving, Normoyle said.

While some volunteers helped a trickle of residents get their Thanksgiving meals Tuesday at the organization's building on Sheridan Park Drive, others were preparing the organization's Christmas programs next door. Bluffton Self Help has collected toys since September in preparation for its new toy store. The store is part of a national program to give parents the dignity of selecting a toy for their children, rather than preparing a wish list and having a sponsor family purchase it for them, Coleman said.

Earlier this year, the organization leased the building that will hold the toy store, using its front office space for workshops. The toys will be placed on racks around the back of the building, and volunteers will allow parents to choose two toys and a book. Younger children will also receive stuffed animals, and older ones, a board game, Normoyle said.

Several companies and stores are holding toy drives for the program.

Coleman said Bluffton Self Help helps the backbone of the local economy, those who hold many of the low-wage jobs.

"The people we serve make our paradise here," Coleman said. "They make our life wonderful in the Lowcountry."

Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.

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This story was originally published November 25, 2014 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Donations key to successful holiday season for Bluffton Self Help ."