Florence County sheriff's office giving their time for kids in need

Being a Florence County sheriff’s deputy isn’t just about taking criminals off the streets, it’s about giving their time to help children in need.

For more than a decade, the Florence County sheriff’s office has done that by organizing hunting and fishing events for children in the area, Florence County Sheriff’s Lt. Wayne Howard said.

The office started its first hunting program about 18 years ago with an annual fishing tournament. Residents soon began asking deputies to expand their children’s program to include hunting wildlife.

These programs have positively affected children and has given them skills and memories they will likely treasure for a lifetime, Howard said.

“Some of these kids will never experience this in their lives,” he said. “We take special needs kids, kids with leukemia and birth defects. About 25 percent of the kids have special needs.”

Many of the children don’t have special needs, but perhaps have special circumstances.

“One little boy had lost his father,” Howard said. Deputies found a volunteer in Florence who mentored the boy and took him on a hunt, helping him to heal after his father’s death, he said.

Each year, the office takes about 45 to 60 children on wild hog, duck and deer hunting excursions. The trips aren’t financed with county funds, but rather with donations from area business such as Bass Pro Shops and Leupold Optics, Howard said. Landowners donate their land for an allotted time and allow the children and their adult companions to harvest the wildlife.

After a hunt, many of the children receive donated hunting rifles, scopes and other nature gear. One of the most memorable events happened in October when sheriff’s deputies and several Pee Dee children traveled to a Charleston plantation to participate in the Wounded Warrior Hunt, Howard said.

Howard said this is one of of his favorite hunts because wounded veterans are invited to participate.

“It makes many of the soldiers feel to good to meet the young kids,” he said. “It’s a great hunt and it’s a way we can thank the soldiers.”

This was the third year the sheriff’s office has participated in the hunt, which is planned by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Safari Club International.

The Florence County Sheriff Office also took part in another October event closer to home at the Pinewood Hunting Club in Pamplico.

The sheriff’s office’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by other agencies.

This year, Howard was named the Conservation Person of the Year by Safari Club International. As a reward, the club sent him and another sheriff’s deputy on an all-expense paid trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo.

There, the men participated in a weeklong school where they learned more ways to promote the respect and enjoyment of the outdoors, Howard said.

Florence County Sheriff’s Kenney Boone said he’s proud of the work his office does because improves it the lives and well-being of children.

“Kids are very important to us,” Boone said. “(Children) are the leaders of tomorrow ... the most important thing we can give them is our time. (This) gives children an opportunity to enjoy our natural resources, God’s creation.”

For more information about the sheriff’s office’s hunting programs call Howard at (843) 665-2121, ext. 339.