Our Community

Lending a Hand at Trident United Way’s Day of Caring

On Sep. 9, members of the Secure Mission Solutions’ Charleston team participated in Trident United Way’s annual Day of Caring. Maggie Bunch, Dan Calvert, Nanci Kestenbaum and Bill Lockard volunteered their time at Chicora Elementary School in North Charleston to be a part of this nationwide event.

The United Way’s Day of Caring is organized throughout the nation’s United Way chapters. Each chapter supports a variety of local volunteer sites ranging from schools and parks to family residences and non-profits to send businesses, students, and individuals to provide help where needed. South Carolina’s Lowcountry chapter, Trident United Way, organized this year’s largest Day of Caring with over 8,000 volunteers.

Bunch, Calvert, Kestenbaum, and Lockard spent their Day of Caring assisting in a “Day of Screenings” at Chicora Elementary School. Chicora Elementary is located in a low-income, high-crime area and is included in the “Charleston Promise Neighborhood” where children often face many challenges. The three local governments and the Charleston County School District are committed to bridging existing gaps in this community to bring about transformational change.

While at Chicora Elementary, volunteers conducted vision screenings for first through fifth graders using vision charts. Referrals to the school nurse were made where children had difficulty reading the charts. The volunteers were instructed to engage the children and make it fun! While most children had no difficulty, one boy in particular was having a tough time reading the chart. He finally took his glasses out of his pocket! Still having some trouble, Maggie and Nanci added him to the referral list

“We had a lot of fun working with the children. They were all well-behaved and I hope that with our recommendations, those children will receive further treatment from an eye care professional and in turn improve their reading abilities,” said Bunch.