OPNION: Thumbs up to Fazoli’s, Moe’s for help with YMCA

Thumbs up to Fazoli’s Italian restaurant and Moe’s Southwest Grill in Florence for sponsoring a YMCA night every month. On YMCA night, 15 percent of all sales between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. at Fazoli’s and from 4 p.m. to closing at Moe’s go toward the Florence Family YMCA’s Lend A Hand Campaign. Dan Wharton, general manager of Florence’s Fazoli’s, said whether customers choose to dine in or pick up an order from his restaurant during YMCA night, they make it possible for the Y to provide scholarships to those in need. “The YMCA, along with Fazoli’s, supports strong kids, strong families and strong communities,” he said. Last year, Lend A Hand Campaign volunteers raised $36,000 so that no one would be denied access to the Y’s facilities or programs because of an inability to pay. Every dollar raised in the campaign stays at the local Y and is used in its programs. According to its Web site, http://www.florenceymca.org, the Florence Family YMCA serves 5,500 members, provides more than $75,000 a year in financial aid to children, families and adults, has more than 1,850 children a year participate in programs and has grown its budget to nearly $2 million since it was established in 1912. For the dates of upcoming YMCA nights at the restaurants, visit the Y’s Web site or call Fazoli’s, located at 2007 S. Irby St., at (843) 664-3062, or Moe’s, located at 1940 Hoffmeyer Road, at (843) 661-7807.

Thumbs up to the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons, or CUE Center, for recently marking its 15th anniversary of service. The center, founded by Monica Caison and based in Wilmington, N.C., is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the awareness of missing children and adults, along with unsolved homicides. The center is entirely funded by donations and operated by an all-volunteer network made up of more than 8,000 people and professional search groups. It has made a tremendous impact along the Pee Dee and Grand Strand, perhaps most famously in helping investigators to find the remains of 44-year-old Alice Donovan of Galivants Ferry, who was abducted Nov. 14, 2002, from the Conway Wal-Mart parking lot by two men who escaped from a Kentucky jail, in July. The CUE Center’s Sixth Annual Missing Person Tour also stopped in Florence in late August to attend a rally hosted by the Florence and Darlington County sheriffs offices to raise awareness about missing persons and unsolved homicide cases in the area. “After so many years, these cases fade from the public’s radar, but for the families and friends of the missing, the nightmare continues every minute of every day their loved one is missing,” Caison said. For more information about CUE Center and how to help, visit its Web site at http://www.ncmissingpersons.org.

Thumbs up to the educational leadership program at Clemson University’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education for being accepted as a member of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Clemson is the only institution in the state to earn the status. The school was named for Lake City’s Gene Moore, who died nearly a year ago, on Oct. 18, 2002 in honor of his lifelong commitment to and leadership quality in education. “Acceptance in UCEA was the result of a multiyear process of improvement to the doctoral program of educational leadership at Clemson,” said Rob Knoeppel, assistant professor and area coordinator of educational leadership for the school. “The process included significant changes to our curriculum, addition of new faculty and a demonstrated commitment to assist South Carolina educational leaders in improving K-12 education throughout the state. Membership in this organization establishes Clemson as one of the premier institutions in the field of educational leadership and adds to the university’s goal of becoming a top-20 public institution.” UCEA membership includes only doctoral-granting universities and only those granting doctorates in educational leadership.