Hilton Head grandma reaches $350K in donations to fight against developer, keep family land
Hilton Head Island’s Josephine Wright has reached the original $350,000 fundraising goal set by the GoFundMe page her family launched in May as they combat a developer lawsuit and aim to keep their Jonesville Road property.
Wright reached the milestone after another large donation from NBA point guard Kyrie Irving, this time of $24,240. Irving became the largest contributor to the fundraiser this summer after donating $40,000 to help pay the Wright family’s legal fees in the ongoing lawsuit levied against them by Bailey Point Development LLC.
Other notable supporters of Wright’s fight include Snoop Dogg, Tyler Perry and Meek Mill.
Following Irving’s donation, supporters — who have left comments and sent funds from across the country and as far as England — have now donated $360,395 to Wright and her family.
The lawsuit, which Beaufort County courts ordered last week must enter mediation, was first filed in February. The developer is seeking to build a 147-unit neighborhood on Jonesville Road and purchased 29 acres of land, which envelopes the Wright family’s 1.8-acre parcel, which has been in the family since shortly after the Civil War.
The lawsuit alleges the family’s back porch encroaches onto the company’s land, which the family has denied. They have removed two previously alleged encroachments named in the suit.
The Wright family previously told The Island Packet once the lawsuit is resolved, they hope to use the remaining GoFundMe donations to establish the Josephine Wright Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping other Gullah landowners retain their family land.
As of last week, the family had not received a settlement or mediation offer from Bailey Point LLC. The Town of Hilton Head Island has stated construction on the planned neighborhood cannot continue until the lawsuit is resolved.
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 9:35 AM.
