FAB Donates $6,000 to city following a successful festival season
By Lindsey Chambers | Folly Current Staff
On Tuesday, June 14, the Folly Association of Business (FAB) presented a check in the amount of $6,000 to the City of Folly Beach to aid in Center Street Beautification. The funds came from proceeds of 2016’s Folly Gras and Sea & Sand festivals, and will be used in particular to help fund the Engraved Brick Project, a fundraiser that allows one to leave their mark on Folly while aiding in the beautification of Center Street.
FAB has asked that one brick be named in honor of one of the original FAB members, Dominic D’Amato, who served on festival committees.
Phase one of the brick project is underway. The first set of bricks are being laid in the median between Sand Dollar Social Club and Rita’s Seaside Grill. Anyone can order a commemorative brick with 18 characters for $75 or 36 characters for $150, by visiting www.bricksrus.com/order/follybeachcenterstreet.
In addition, at their monthly meeting on June 9 at Tides Hotel, FAB presented checks to the following Folly Beach-based charities, in exchange for their volunteer hours during the 2016 Sea & Sand Festival: Folly Anglers $1,075, Folly Angels $600, Surfer’s Healing $1,215, Begin with Books $125.
For the first time, FAB used a new volunteer system in order to ensure the success of the festivals, by asking for volunteers from Folly Beach charities and in exchange they would get a portion of the proceeds from that festival.
“By recruiting volunteer representatives to help with the festivals, we received enthusiastic, responsible and reliable people. It’s a benefit for us and an opportunity for them to earn some serious money for their charity. We could not have been happier with the results and look forward to working with all these great people again at future festivals,” said Christine Wilkerson, head of the Festival Volunteer Committee.
FAB President, Lewis Dodson had this to say about the joint venture: “We are so grateful for all the volunteers and to be able to continue to give back to our community! Each of these charities is doing great things on our island and we hope that we can continue to support each other through programs like this.”
