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Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
A hot topic at the May 2 Kiawah Island Town Council meeting was how they should best divide up the $200,000 that they have allocated in charitable grants.
They leaned on staff recommendations to the Ways and Means committee for guidance.
Mayor John Labriola noted that in the past, the breadth of the applicants was broader and they would have applicants for charities that represented everything from wildlife and the arts to helping those less fortunate in various ways.
Labriola also said that due to the increasing number of applicants, they decided to categorize them and only accept charities related to hunger, housing or health. He also described the discussion among the Ways and Means Committee about the grants as “robust.”
The hunger category pertains to organizations like food banks or Thanksgiving day meals, Lowcountry Food Bank. The housing category includes organizations that help to either find housing for those in need or build/repair housing, like Sea Island Habitat for Humanity. The health category provides various medical services for those in need, like the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic.
That means that charities that support arts or wildlife, for example, will not be supported by the Town’s charity grants at this time. However, the mayor was quick to disclose that the Town very much supports arts and wildlife/environmental causes by employing positions with the Town, supporting programs and conducting research in these efforts.
Town Council Member John Moffitt is the Ways and Means Committee liaison. He announced that Town staff categorized the applicants into the three categories – hunger, housing and health – and decided on how much money should go to each organization.
“For example, the hunger group of applicants asked for a total of $83,000 among the eight different groups, but we granted $70,000 total. That is because one of the groups asked for $18,000, but staff recommended $8,000,” he said.
There was a discussion whether municipalities can support organizations that evangelize a religion. Moffitt read aloud one organization’s mission statement, which encourages spiritual connection and Christian fellowship for those in need.
“Does this put in conflict the separation of church and state?” he asked. Kiawah Island Town Attorney Joe Wilson said that supporting an organization that represents a certain religion is acceptable as long as the organization serves a public purpose and that public purpose is what is supported.
Kiawah Island Town Council Member Bradley Belt said, “Public money cannot be used to support a certain religious organization, but government money can be used to support the social services that organization provides. Therefore, faith-based organizations that receive direct government funds should take steps to separate religious activities from the government funded services that they offer.”
Labriola added, “We aren’t risking a great deal here. They feed Thanksgiving dinner to those in need. Let’s go with staff recommendations on the funding for them.”
There was also a question about an organization in the health group that Moffitt said falls into the category of “funding the funder.” He said that money from Kiawah Island should go directly to the client of the organization and not into a pot that the organization can decide whatever they want to do with it.
Kiawah Island Town Council Member Michael Heidingsfelder said that he agreed but that he only asked that in the future grant guidelines be more specific and clear so that they don’t run into this issue again.
The health group also had a couple of organizations that were not necessarily health related. One of them, The Progressive Club, does not directly benefit the health of the community, and they were to get $10,000. It was ultimately decided among Council that redirecting the $10,000 to fully fund all the groups in the hunger, health and housing categories with the $10,000 would be the better way to go.
The motion to redirect the funds from The Progressive Club and use staff’s recommendations for charitable grants was approved.
Labriola concluded that portion of the meeting saying that Heidingsfelder would be looking at the policies, procedures and guidelines for charitable grants since there are new members and new perspectives and, of course, “a lot of demand.”
“Let’s look at the funding and what we want for the future,” he added.