EDITORIAL: Regional cooperation can boost Pee Dee

The Pee Dee’s future depends on the creation of jobs and a community spirit that keeps the most vulnerable in mind year-round, not just at the holidays.

We live in the poorest region of the state where high unemployment has turned crime, illiteracy, hunger and despondency into critical social issues.

A slight upturn in the economy has restored hope. But the lack of jobs has taken away health insurance from thousands. It has forced many to ask friends, neighbors and social agencies for a helping hand.

Problems at times like these seem overwhelming. They require unconventional thinking and caring choices to keep thousands more from falling out of the safety net.

No, this is not a call for more government programs and higher taxes to bail out those who have fallen on hard times.

It is a call on politicians and nonprofits to share resources, brainpower and common experiences on a regional basis to find solutions. What’s happening in Florence and Darlington counties is not different from the challenges in Dillon and Marion counties.

Francis Marion University is an example of a local institution that’s reaching into the Pee Dee to find solutions with hands-on efforts in education and training. The FMU Center of Excellence, which prepares teachers for children of poverty, is one glowing success story.

We commend the efforts of local hospitals, including McLeod Health and Carolinas Hospital System, to work with patients on medical issues and for expanding closer to poor neighborhoods in the Pee Dee.

This newspaper attempts to raise issues in an effort to be a unifying voice for the region.

And we want to encourage fledgling efforts at regional cooperation, especially when it comes to charitable donations. It is vitally important to give to your church, United Way, The School Foundation and other local institutions, but we think donations to broader regional causes are worth considering in these extraordinary times.

Local businessmen created one of note in 2006 that’s starting to make an imprint in the community.

Trip DuBard, a former executive at the Anheuser-Busch distributor in Florence before his family sold it in 2006, helped found the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation in 2006.

The Florence Rotary Club pledged $25,000 for the first three years to cover initial operating expenses, and DuBard won a $50,000 prize from the Liberty Fellowship in 2008 to allow it to expand.

The Eastern Carolina Community Foundation can play a big role in the future of the region, if it’s successful in becoming better known and better funded.

DuBard and the foundation’s board of directors, including executive director Susan Bankston, take a larger view of the Pee Dee. They consider hunger to be the biggest problem facing the region, for example, and would like to focus particular attention to eradicating it before moving on to another issue. Through local advisors and statistical indicators, it would have its finger on the pulse of the region.

But the foundation’s mission is not limited. Through its infrastructure, it can serve as a grantmaker to any Pee Dee nonprofit. It can serve as a community partner with local governments, businesses or nonprofits in raising money. It can consolidate endowments, bringing down costs. It can serve as advisors and partners for families and individuals to set up and manage funds.

“Most charities are like a checkbook,” DuBard said. “They bring money in and send it out. We’re like a savings account. We bring it in, help it grow and use it when it’s needed.”

There are more than 800 community foundations, including several successful ones in South Carolina. They have become catalysts for change wherever they exist.

“We’re not completely on our feet,” DuBard said. “We’re halfway up, working hard and making strides.”

The foundation’s approach can be effective in raising money and raising awareness about regional issues. We applaud efforts to share ideas and resources to overcome challenges in the Pee Dee.

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).