Thumbs up to Roche's walk participants

Thumbs up to the 14,000 Roche employees from 100 sites worldwide — including Roche Carolina in Florence — who participated in a sponsored worldwide walk Monday to raise money to help orphans and children in need. With their participation in this sixth annual event, the Roche employees demonstrate their solidarity and ongoing commitment to help support children in Malawi and children’s organizations in their own countries. All funds raised by employees are matched by Roche. In collaboration with the European Coalition of Positive People, Roche is supporting day care centers in Malawi, looking after more than 3,000 children orphaned by AIDS. Part of the money raised also will be used to fund the project “Schools for Africa,” established by UNICEF in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society to improve education and the schools the children attend in Malawi.

Thumbs up to 12-year-old Jennifer Price of Florence, who celebrated her birthday this year by working with her friends to make clothing for stuffed bears and donate the toys to the CARE House of the Pee Dee in Florence. The CARE House is a nonprofit organization that provides services to children who may have been physically or sexually abused, and Jennifer said she learned about it this year when she participated in a youth group from Highland Park Methodist Church that painted a mural on the walls of the agency’s waiting room as a summer project. With the help of her grandmother, she and her friends created unique costumes for the bears that were donated to The CARE House. They also baked fudge and brownies for McLeod Hospice House. “It was fun. They had a good time, I had a good time,” she said. “It makes birthdays more memorable when you’re helping somebody else out.” And it seems other children in the Pee Dee share Jennifer’s wisdom and have taken her cue. Anita Throwe, executive director of the CARE House, said another local girl who will soon celebrate her birthday has expressed interest in carrying out a similar project. For more details about the CARE House, its child abuse prevention and educational programs and how to help, call (843) 629-0236.

Thumbs up to the S.C. State football team for making the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 1982. The Bulldogs went 10-2 during the regular season and won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship. In the first round of the playoffs Saturday, the Bulldogs traveled to Boone, N.C., and lost 37-21 to three-time defending national champion Appalachian State. Fifteen players from the Pee Dee are on the S.C. State roster. Timmonsville’s Phillip Morris was the Bulldogs’ second leading receiver with 35 catches for 547 yards and a team-high five touchdowns. Lamar’s Marshall McFadden, a defensive back, had a team-high 47 solo tackles and tied for the team lead with 79 tackles overall. Other players from the Pee Dee on the S.C. State roster include Carvers Bay’s Donovan Richard; Darlington’s Nygel Pearson, Kelvin Colclough and Dusten Dubose; Hartsville’s Jake Johnson; Hemingway’s Sterling Blunt; Lake City’s Josh Harrison; Lamar’s Markee Hamlin, Desmond Benjamin, LaQuinn Ellerbe and Marquais Hamlin; Manning’s Cedric Lloyd; and Marlboro County’s Jayson Ayers. Former Darlington High School coach Gerald Harrison coaches the defensive line and tackles.