April 1, 2025 • 52 mins
Tucked away on 110 acres of pristine Lowcountry forest sits a place where healing happens every day. Rick Lhotan, Major Gifts Manager at Windwood Farm and Home for Children, pulls back the curtain on this remarkable organization that has kept over 5,000 local children with their families instead of entering protective custody over the past decade.
The numbers are staggering, but the stories behind them are even more powerful. As South Carolina's only Qualified Residential Treatment Program, Windwood provides specialized care for children ages 6-16 who have experienced trauma, offering approximately six hours of therapy monthly to each child in residence. The campus features a Charleston County accredited school, residential cottages, and natural spaces that become part of the therapeutic experience.
What makes Windwood truly special is their comprehensive approach. Their community-based programs work preventatively with families experiencing challenges, while their residential services provide intensive therapeutic interventions for children needing more support. Through initiatives like the Outdoor Wilderness Leadership Program, children learn environmental awareness while developing crucial social skills and experiencing moments of pure childhood joy – like catching their first fish, which Rick and Michael describe with contagious enthusiasm.
With a 95% positive permanency rate, Windwood's impact is undeniable. But they can't do it alone. From volunteering as reading buddies to sponsoring their annual gala, from providing meals to teaching financial literacy, there are countless ways local businesses can contribute to this vital mission. As Rick shares plans for the organization's 40th anniversary celebration and dreams of a fishing tournament that would directly involve the boys, it's clear that the community's continued support will help write Windwood's next chapter.
Want to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children? Reach out to Rick at ricklhotan@windwoodfarm.org to discuss how your business can partner with this extraordinary organization making hope possible for our community's most vulnerable children.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are in 2025.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Yes, we're in 2025.
Mr Lotton, lotton.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Lotton, yep, you got this.
No Thanksgiving, no Christmas.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, Thanksgiving and Christmas was great.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording today in theCharleston Radio Group Studios.
Huge supporters of the chamber,thank you for recording with us
today.
I am Kathy Herman.
I am your immediate pastpresident of the Mount Pleasant
Chamber, so that means I servedas president in 2024 and I'm
(00:36):
still on the board this year.
My real job I am the marketingdirector for Mount Pleasant Town
Center, and I'm joined today byone of my favorite co-hosts,
michael Cochran.
Michael Cochran served as theChamber Foundation Chair last
year, in 2024.
So thank you for everything youdid for us last year, michael,
(00:58):
and tell our listeners a littlebit more about yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you Great to be hereagain, Kathy and I am a Farm
Bureau insurance agent, so I'min the insurance side of the
world and love living in MountPleasant.
I've lived in Mount Pleasantfor over 30 years in the
Lowcountry and absolutely loveit and I love our chamber and
love this venture that we'vedone with this podcast so that
(01:21):
we can get local folks in hereto talk about great business and
get things done.
It's all about chambering, as apast president has once said.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Oh, absolutely, and we have another incredible guest
for you today.
Last year's podcast just keptgetting better and better and
better, and I'm really lookingforward to all of the podcasts
we'll be doing this year.
So we have a really specialguest here today.
He is the major gifts managerat Wynwood Farm and Home for
(01:49):
Children.
If you are not familiar withthem, you're missing out.
However, wynwood FamilyServices provides help, hope and
healing through behavioral,educational and therapeutic
interventions which enhancesocial functioning and
well-being, ensure safety andwork to achieve positive
(02:12):
permanency for children andfamilies in our community.
So I am so excited to welcometo our podcast today Rick Layton
.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I think we should kind of wrapup now, because that was perfect
, that was perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, that was what that was on your website.
I can't say that I wrote it,but they, whoever wrote your
website, did it perfectly.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Way to go, mia, when you listen to this.
Good job, kudos.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, we're really excited to have you here today,
because I don't know if there'sanyone out there that does not
know about Wynwood Family or and, but it's an incredible
organization.
I can't wait to share all ofyour information with our
businesses in the community.
But we were just talking aboutthe website, so I'm going to
start with there the first thingI saw on the website.
(02:56):
Rick said because of WynwoodFamily Services, more than 5,000
local children have been ableto stay with their families
instead of protective custodyover the last 10 years.
That is some achievement.
Yeah, some achievement.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
It's a highlight of our services.
Oh, we're going to have to editthat out, but it's a highlight
of our services.
So that achievement is reallybecause of our community-based
team.
So that achievement is reallybecause of our community-based
team.
So we have a preventative,proactive approach to child
abuse, neglect and maltreatmentas one of our major flagship
programs.
(03:34):
So what that team does is workwith families who have
substantiated cases of childabuse, neglect or maltreatment
to provide wraparound servicesto help strengthen that family
and hopefully keep that familytogether instead of entering
foster care.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I mean, that is just that's some goal.
But 5,000 in 10 years, that's apretty and crazy number, isn't
it Michael?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's an incredible number, the work that when you
think about, when you put thatinto perspective, that's just,
we see you know families in thelocal area and you think about
that sheer number 5,000, and howmany lives are affected.
I mean, we go out and we seewhen we go to dinner you know a
family with like two or threekids, you know.
Or you go to a birthday partyand you see you know like 20, 30
kids.
We're talking 5,000.
(04:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That's a good point right now within 10 years,
winwood has done less than wando.
But I mean lucy beckham, maybethat's a whole lot of impact,
yeah that's insane.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So let's, just before we get into like the weeds, um,
can you give our listeners justlike an overview of the mission
of Wynwood Farms and like keyprograms and how it works etc.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Just like you shared earlier,we provide help, hope and
healing through therapeutic,educational and recreational
interventions is we work withchildren who have either been
founded to have some neglect,maltreatment or abuse in their
life to keep them with theirfamilies, which is the preferred
(05:10):
setting of child development,or, in the cases where we're
interacting with somebody who'salready been separated, we help
them recover from their traumathrough various forms of therapy
that's really focused ontrauma-informed care, of therapy
that's really focused ontrauma-informed care.
So we work with them, eitherthrough our preventative
family-based or community-basedprograms or our residential
(05:31):
programs in Allendale, to reallyget them to a point where they
can either keep or stay withtheir families or reintegrate
into a foster placement whetherthat's kinship care or an actual
traditional foster family andcontinue to have a normal,
healthy life like any otherchild should have.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Are these children placed with you through DSS or
the police?
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So for our community-based program we're
all referred these cases by DSS.
And then within our residentialprograms there's two programs
on-site, so one of them isreferred by DSS, the other one
is voluntary placements withcommunity referrals right and,
on a side note, the chamberitself, our community engagement
(06:17):
committee.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I know they've worked with there.
I'm going to talk about that ina second but we've also done to
go bags for DSS right, and Ididn't know what that was until
I joined the chamber.
And for those of you who don'tknow, if we ever asked for
donations, it's for these.
If someone needs to get taken,and immediately from their
(06:38):
family, there's a bag.
They have a bag to go to fostercare with and not just have to
throw all of their belongingsinto a garbage bag and leave.
So if anyone's ever asking fora donation for GoBags for DSS,
please write that down on yourlist.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Well, and then, on that note, I'm not sure if y'all
know this, but Mount PleasantChamber actually gave Wynwood,
or provided, a whole bunch ofschool supplies and backpacks
for the boys at Wynwood thispast school year, because a lot
of kids will come in and justnot be prepared for school on
site.
So it's a great opportunity forthese kids to come to a strange
(07:14):
new place away from theirfamilies and instantly be met
with.
Here's a backpack from thecommunity for people who care
about you.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
See, we care.
Yeah, we're so nice, we care.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
A lot of're so nice.
We care.
A lot of people care.
That's right, but it's great.
Put yourself in the perspectiveof a child who's just gone to a
brand new place.
You don't have your siblings,you don't have your mom and dad
and you're told you're going tobe staying here for a while.
That could be kind of shocking.
It's wonderful to receive abackpack that is yours that
(07:47):
looks like it belongs to a kid.
Like there was basketballs,there was an astronaut, there
were dinosaurs on this.
Like imagine how great a senseof normalcy that is in a really
weird time in life.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
No, I think that's great, and is there a typical
number of kids that you have ateach time, or does that range?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
So we have capacity for 28 on campus between our two
programs, we're almostconstantly full.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
It's sad to say, but I was expecting you to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, so we're the only.
We're going to get into theweeds for a little bit, but I'll
pull this out, I promise Sure.
So within the child well-beingspace within South Carolina,
wynwood is currently the onlyqualified residential treatment
program which is a specialsetting within DSS's continuum
of care.
Basically, getting out of theweeds now, that means we provide
(08:43):
high-level treatment forchildren who have extreme
psychological or behavioralconditions as a result of trauma
.
So we're a highly specializedorganization that treats these
kids and the beauty of it eventhough we're unique, the beauty
of it is places like Wynwoodexist so that these kids who
(09:06):
need the help can get it.
But it also is a challengebecause, as of right now, we are
the only one.
So the kids who need theseservices but can't access it yet
have to wait.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I'm sure there's a waiting list.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Unfortunately.
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So a quick question about the history of Wynwood
that I've got.
I'm sure there's a waiting list, Unfortunately yeah, yeah, I'm
sure, wow, wow.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So a quick question about the history of Wynwood
that I've got, because I knowthat there's some very special
people that pulled together andactually pulled the trigger to
make this happen.
Was it 25, 30 years ago, 39,now 39.
Can you tell us a little bitabout how it started, what the
vision was, and then just kindof bring us up to where we are
(09:47):
now?
Yeah, because there's a lot ofspecial people.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, and we are the modern day.
Wynwood is built on theshoulders of some amazing people
.
We would not be where we aretoday if it weren't for our
original board, for our founder,for all of our donors from the
past and current donors.
So I mean, it's the saying isso cliche, but it takes a
(10:09):
village.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
And who was the founder?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So the founder is Joseph Tamsberg.
He goes by Jody.
Jody actually lived on propertyin the early 80s before Wynwood
was Wynwood, before Wynwood wasWynwood, and he adopted two
sons out of South Carolina DSSand really had a heart for
taking care of children withinthe custody of DSS.
And when he decided to moveback to Georgetown, instead of
(10:34):
selling the property andprobably making tons of money on
it, he said I want to start anorganization that serves boys
who have been abused andneglected in South Carolina to
take care of them.
So Wynwood started in 1985.
Our first group home is stillon campus.
It's now an administrativebuilding, but it's the home
(10:55):
where he raised his family.
It's the home where we had ourfirst six boys and now where
most of our administrative workhappens.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I've been out to the property probably eight times or
so, six or eight times withFarm Bureau, with different
things that we've done with youguys, and the property is
amazing.
I mean, how many acres in thecountry is that?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So it's 110 acres and I know you're a bass fisherman,
so about 30 of that are pondsthat are just stocked full of
all the bass you could possiblyimagine.
But it's 110 acres out in theNational.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Forest, don't tempt him.
He's going to get up and gofishing right now.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
We already got something lined up for the
spring.
It's going to be fun, okay good, but 110 acres out in the
National Forest and it ispristine low-country beauty.
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Absolutely, absolutely.
They've got this amazing pondhouse, I think it's called the
first year I got involved.
We donated all the Christmasgifts.
We said give us your Christmasgift list.
We filled the entire list andwe went out to the pond house.
That was where they were goingto wrap everything.
Kids were not allowed there forabout a 30-day period, but just
(12:10):
sitting there looking at themajestic just how beautiful it
was and I was like, if you needa therapeutic environment, y'all
have captured it.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, absolutely have captured that yeah, and that's
again going all the way back tojody's vision of why winwood all
the way out there in ondaw, allthe way out there in the forest
is to maintain that naturalenvironment that helps kids just
be kids, get away from thehustle and bustle of city life
and just focus on the workthey've got to do to recover
(12:37):
from trauma, heal and just havea sense of hope for the future.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So everything for the boys is done on campus.
So they live there, they go toschool there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
A vast majority of life happens on the farm for
them, so they live there, theyeat there.
We have a Charleston Countyaccredited schoolhouse on campus
that provides remedialeducation for the boys, but they
also go off campus prettyfrequently on community outings,
which is just like a really funtime for them to go do really
(13:08):
exciting things but also to justpractice the social skills that
they're learning within theirtherapeutic treatment.
To better understand what doesnormal life look like when I
discharge from Wynwood, and whatabout the ages?
So we're licensed to care forchildren between the ages of 6
to 16 that's the toughest timetoo yeah 6 to 16 is rough, but
(13:30):
it's fun.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
It's so fun, I'm so glad.
I'm so glad.
Now you are, um, the majorgifts manager.
Yep, does that mean?
Does that mean you're the moneyman?
Uh, maybe it means I'm afundraiser, you're the money man
.
Maybe it means I'm a fundraiser, you're the fundraiser, money
man.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Friendraiser.
You are the friendraiser.
I like that perspective.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I like that, Michael.
We're going to call you thatfrom now on.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I'm all right with that.
You're the friendraiser, I'mall right with that, I'll get
new business cards.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's amazing Such an organization to promote.
It's always nice right whenyou're trying to fundraise for
something, an organization thateverybody knows and really is
doing some incredible work.
So, as a major gifts manager, acouple of things Kind of tell
us what our businesses could dofor you.
(14:19):
Is it solely financial.
Any other kind of gifts youlook for.
Is it just money?
Let our local businesses knowhow they can help you.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, that's going to be a broad answer because it's
a wide, open spectrum.
We've got partnerships withbusinesses that come out to do
financial literacy for some ofthe older boys because it's an
important skill to have in lifefinancial literacy for some of
the older boys because it's animportant skill to have in life.
We've had organizations comeout to do board games and pizza
(14:53):
with the boys once a month whereit's just like a fun little
touch point for the kids to justhave normal relationships with
people.
We've had businesses come induring gala season and provide
really interesting and uniqueand kind gifts that we can
auction off to raise funds.
And, of course, we've had grantmakers or businesses come in
and say man, we really want tosupport the work that you're
(15:13):
doing.
Here's a check for X amount ofmoney.
Please use it for whatever youneed.
And it's a hard answer toprovide because all of that is
so important to what we do.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It's never just about money.
I mean, money helps run theworld, but there are so many
other things.
I've always said if you don'thave the money to give, you
always have your time to give,right, right.
And so do you manage all ofthat for them?
That not really, no okay.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
So we have a great team within the development team
at Wynwood.
So we have our chiefphilanthropy officer who
oversees our entire team.
We have an event andcommunications manager that does
all of our events.
We have a volunteer coordinatorthat works with a lot of
businesses, churches, civicgroups, that just anything you
(16:05):
want to do volunteering-wise,she's your person.
I'm really kind of themiddleman between them all,
trying to connect people towhere they actually want to go.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's pretty amazing .
Speaker 1 (16:16):
It's fun yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
We were talking about the money side a little bit.
In addition to the volunteerand your time you had shared
with me a while back, somespecific dollars.
I'm going to get real granularSure the amount of money that it
takes for, say, an hour oftherapy outdoor therapy or
therapy was staggering, and thenfor the 28 kids could you share
(16:41):
with our listeners and ourviewers some of those details of
literally what we're talkingabout.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, so we talk in terms of trauma-informed therapy
because that is what Wynwooddoes.
It's what makes us unique.
So an hour of therapy for onechild is $110.
Now these boys go to on averagesix hours of therapy a month.
(17:08):
So $660 per child for one monthand that's just I don't want to
say the minimum, but that'sreally the brass tacks.
Now more therapy happens thanthat, but it's kind of what we
project out for each child intheir treatment.
So we're talking gosh, I'mhorrible at quick math, but
(17:32):
we're talking about thousands ofdollars a month that winwood
needs to help provide thesechildren not just
trauma-informed care but reallythe opportunity to regain some
hope, to heal from trauma and toreally be excited about what
the future has for them.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
What are some of the examples of the outdoor therapy
that you do?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So, outside of normal recreational activities like
riding bikes and fishing,playing basketball, kickball all
those are like top favoritethings that you can do at
Wynwood.
We actually started a newprogram last year called the
Outdoor Wilderness LeadershipProgram OWL for short.
It's led by Coastal Expeditionstaff off of Sham Creek led by
(18:21):
Coastal Expedition staff off ofSham Creek, and they come to
campus once a week withalternating programs with our
residential programs on campusto provide hands-on
environmental educationcurriculum that really just one
teaches them about the naturearound them because with 110
acres in the forest that's awhole lot of nature.
But it also just gives themtime and energy to practice
(18:45):
skills like awareness or skillslike working together on teams.
Just build a shelter in theforest using only natural
elements around us and honestlyit just gives them an
opportunity to develop a senseof place and belonging at
Wynwood, because again, thesekids aren't from Wynwood and
(19:07):
they're not going to stay therelong term.
The average length of stay isanywhere between 9 to 12 months,
depending on their treatmentplan and progress through that.
So really what we're trying todo is make them feel at home at
Wynwood but also give them anopportunity to be educated and
to grow social skills as they'redoing.
That that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And what organization did you say helps you with that
Coastal?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Expeditions.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
They have.
I think their headquarters ison Shem Creek, but they have a
Keowa River location as well.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And see, there you go , donating right.
Yeah, sure, I mean, that soundslike a major way of impacting
these children, giving up theirtime to provide them with
something they need.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, that was actually a donor-funded program
for us.
But, knowing the CoastalExpedition staff, the energy and
the heart and I mean thepassion that they put outside of
the time that they spend withus, I mean they're definitely
volunteering time outside ofwork to to make this program the
best it could be I'm sure theboys love it too oh my gosh,
(20:08):
it's so.
They love it so much,especially when it's fishing or
or when it's, uh, buildingshelters in the woods.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They love that I wouldn't mind getting lost in
the woods.
Every once in a while, I thinkI have to find my way over there
and help out.
Come on, it's on tuesdays it'son tuesdays I'll host you.
All right, I would love to seetuesdays call rick, go over and
help him out.
Um, and then let's talk aboutthe long term, like long-term
goals and impact of everything.
(20:35):
So again, not just necessarilymoney, but like how do you got?
How do you measure yourlong-term results?
Is that rehabilitating the boysand getting them out in a
certain amount of time?
What do you consider to be themeasure of success for Wynwood?
Speaker 1 (20:50):
The measure of success for Wynwood is positive.
Permanency, which is a termused throughout this service
space, but Wynwood defines it asany placement for longer than
six months post-discharge got it.
So that's foster family, that'skinship care.
Um, in the past it was othergroup homes that were lower
(21:12):
level, like independent livingskills facilities.
So that is the metric that weuse to define whether or not
we're actually being successful.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
That's great and it's good numbers, isn't?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
it, 95% of our children achieve positive
permanency Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's something to be very proud of.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, again, I love what Wendy does.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I know I can see you're smiling Every time I
bring it up, you start to smile.
I know it's great, I love it.
That's really that really apretty amazing number.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
If you could break out a little bit on the
educational side with theschooling.
That's Charleston County PublicSchool, correct?
I mean you have a CharlestonCounty school on site.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So great question.
We're actually an affiliate ofLiberty Hill Academy in North
Charleston.
Essentially, what that means isthey provide the staff, the
administrative help, pretty mucheverything that we need to make
education actually happenhappen on campus, but we provide
(22:17):
the students and the facility.
So Wynwood doesn't haveteachers, we have Liberty Hill
teachers at.
Wynwood doesn't have teacherswe have Liberty Hill teachers at
Wynwood.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, it's an amazing partnership.
Again, Wynwood could not bewhat Wynwood is without the
community that we're a part of.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
It sounds to me like you're not just a major gifts
manager, are you?
You get involved?
Well, it sounds to me likeyou're not just a major gifts
manager, are you?
You get involved.
Well, I'm assuming and you cantell me I'm wrong, but from the
way you're speaking and thesmile on your face, you probably
get a little bit more involvedin things that you don't
necessarily have to get involvedwith, don't you?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, I've been a part of different great groups
outside of work, but thisopportunity has really I mean,
it's allowed me to engage withsome rock stars in our community
.
It's amazing.
That's why, when you were like,are you the money man?
There's so much more than that.
Of course there is, but it'sgreat.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Rick, I know one of the highlights of y'all's year
one of the biggest focuses is onthe fundraising side is your
gala.
So every year you have a biggala.
Can you talk to us, talk to ourlisteners, about the gala
itself?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Man.
All right, I'm going to tease alittle bit, go ahead.
But yes, we're entering our40th year at Wynwood.
It's a huge accomplishment.
This year's gala is going to beI mean, I'm thinking in terms
of Disneyland with indoorfireworks and just like rah-rah.
(23:56):
It's going to be great.
That probably won't happen.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
But it is going to be a night to remember.
Well, come on, why not, let'sstart working on that now?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
well, you know hotels and fire code and you know I
won't tell anybody.
I know people at the town will,and this, this podcast, lives
forever, so the fire marshalcould be like rick, don't listen
, fire marshal yeah, so, uh,chief mixon, pay, don't pay
attention.
Anyway, the gala is by far thelargest event that we do every
(24:25):
single year.
It's an opportunity for us toshowcase not just the impact
that we had the year before, butalso an opportunity to invite
businesses, individuals,foundations to be a part of next
year.
This past gala it's hard to putit in context because it was so
(24:46):
successful that the year beforeit almost looks like nothing
happened Again.
That's all because of the greatteam that we have at Wynwood.
It has very little, if nothing,to do with me it's not a
planner, planner I I'm I'm notour event planner.
(25:09):
I'll get involved, I can help,but I'll just show up that you
tell me where you need me tomove things and I'll do it.
But that's really because ofthe great mind of of our event
planner, mia ballman, who's justI mean, a rock star.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Now I'm assuming our local businesses can get
involved with this.
Oh, absolutely Right.
Oh, yeah, so make sure you tellthem where they can go to get
some more information aboutsponsoring this amazing event.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
You can reach me at my email ricklotten L-H-O--a-n
at winwoodfarmorg.
I'd love to take you out tocoffee and talk sponsorship
options.
There you go there you go withyour gala.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Is it a?
Is it a sponsored table?
Like you have a certain numberof tables and a sponsor pays a
certain dollar amount for eightor ten seats.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
That's that work, that's exactly exactly how our
model works and we work withsponsors.
Most of the time they filltheir eight or ten seats really
quickly, which is great becausethey're engaging their network
to invite them into somethingthat they care about.
That's how we growrelationships within our
community.
But other times some peoplewill just say I want to sponsor
(26:20):
a table, or I want to sponsor ahigher-level sponsorship, but I
can't attend for any number ofreasons.
Here's the table back.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Feel free to sell it again, or sell it again.
Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, it's awesome Again.
Incredibly selfless.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Right, yeah, have you been Michael.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I have not been to this one.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
No, no, well, just have your marketing team reach
out to me at ricklaughton, atwinwoodfarmorg.
We can talk sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
We sure can, absolutely yes yes, yes, that
sounds like a pretty lovelyevening.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Oh yeah, it was awesome this past year.
I hate to sound like amillennial, but the vibes were
immaculate.
I mean it was amazing.
The amount of energy in theroom was amazing.
(27:14):
The people that we had in theroom really rallied around our
organization.
It was just a fun time to bearound.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So good.
I'm really glad that you gotthat out there so our businesses
can help you out with that.
But speaking more about localbusiness, can you give us an
example of some successfulcollaborations that you've had
with local businesses and howit's impacted both the business
and Windward?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, so that's a hard question to answer.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Well, I think a perfect example is.
What we talked about before isthe business that helps with the
outside.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, so any other yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Great.
Any other examples I've got one.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Okay, I've got one.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Please.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
So, for six and a half years or so, we started
with gifts and now, duringholiday season, we provide the
meal for the children for theboys, and it's exciting because
all of our three offices gettogether.
Our company gives us a certainamount, we match it, and then we
bring honey-baked ham meals orwhatever they want.
We just bring it in and it's anexciting time to come in and
provide that.
And then we bring honey bakedham meals or whatever that,
(28:21):
whatever they want, we justbring it in and it's an exciting
time to come in and providethat and to give that.
You take the pressure offbecause the staff's under I mean
, it's always under the gunbecause it's 24-7 mm-hmm and so
we do that, and then some yearswe've we've given chick-fil-a
cards that you can usethroughout the years incentives
to incentivize the kids, youknow, to give them some more
(28:42):
normalcy.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
But that's just on a small scale, just one meal one
time a year, but it seems likeit's pretty impactful, yeah and
I mean it's a hard question toanswer because businesses do so
much right we I wouldn't call ita partnership, but there's one
particular barbershop in townthat the boys go to and it's the
highlight of the month for them.
It's a haircut.
(29:04):
That's not a big ordeal for me,but they look forward to it,
they enjoy it and that's such aI don't want to call it a niche
thing, but it's such anintangible impact that you can't
see unless you're on the farm.
When they come back from theair cuts looking fresh and
(29:26):
they're like Mr Rick, look atwhat I got here, nice, that's
awesome, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And I know last year the chamber again the Community
Engagement Committee, andcorrect me if I'm wrong, amanda,
but I think they paint, didn't?
They come in paint fences andcooked, cooked lunch with the
boy.
I mean, I I wasn't able to makeit that day so but I heard that
it was a really incredibleafternoon.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yeah, and is that?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
the type of things businesses can do for you or
yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
So the volunteering aspect for businesses can either
be one of two things One-offevents that come out to do
landscaping for us or helps usupdate some of the
infrastructure, like painting abarn, for example.
Just really try to make Wynwoodlook more beautiful.
Another thing that businessescan do is work with our
(30:21):
volunteer coordinator to developkind of a recurring program
that they help lead and run.
So the financial literacyexample is a great example of
this.
Wynn would host the program butoutside of making sure that all
the volunteers are compliantwith our policies for volunteers
, they really just run it Rightand it's so helpful.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Now, I don't think I asked you this how long have you
been?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
So I have been a volunteer for Wynwood for about
five years.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
And then on staff for over a year now.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Oh, so it's still a little new for you?
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, still a little new.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
That's why you're still smiling.
No, not at all, I'm kidding,I'm kidding, I'm kidding If I
got to go and work on a placethat sounds as beautiful as as
you describe it.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I think I'd be smiling too.
Yeah, so one place where thetrees change color in Charleston
, so that that's already enoughto fall in love with it.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
On the volunteer side , while we're there, is there a
vetting process or somebodywants to volunteer?
Is there a process that someoneneeds to go through?
You know, backgroundinvestigation, background check,
that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yeah, so because we interact or because we take care
of children that are in thestate's custody, who have been
traumatized and are vulnerable,there's a vetting process that
includes a background check,includes a sled check, and then
on top of that, there's ahandbook that we provide that
has every relevant waywoodpolicy that volunteers need to
(31:52):
know, just so that theyunderstand this is the the space
that you're entering because wewant you here.
You need to know how tointeract with either our
organization or our campus orour boys, just so that you
remain safe and our childrenremain safe is there an
orientation type class?
(32:12):
not really, but every singletime that we host a volunteer
group, we spend about 10 to 15minutes kind of covering what is
winynwood?
Who do we serve?
What do we do?
What are they going to be doing?
If they need help or if theysee something that they're not
familiar with, do not hesitateto let us know, right, and you
can volunteer for not justspecial events, right, rick?
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I mean you can volunteer just to help out, I
mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So we've got so many volunteer opportunities that it
could take a whole hour to tellyou.
Email, rick, email me, I'llconnect you to Julia.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
So we're going to email him about sponsoring the
gala and then you're going toemail him about donating your
time as a volunteer for thisorganization.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
But an urgent need at the moment is, if you like
reading to kids who are not goodat reading or want to get
better at reading, we reallyneed some reading buddies to
just come out every other weekand just read to the boys or
have the boys read to them.
Another one that we're lookingat, starting as a spring kind of
comes in, is a pollinator slashgarden person.
(33:19):
I have a black thumb soeverything I touch dies, so I'm
not gonna go into the garden.
But if you like gardening, ifyou are really good at keeping
houseplants alive that I'm notkeeping alive, right, reach out,
because we really need somehelp to start a garden for our
boys, to teach them so peoplecan take their strengths yes oh,
(33:42):
yeah, and and literally justgive them to these boys that
need that need to draw on thosestrengths.
Yeah and another great exampleis we had a local artist come
out I think a year and a halfago now, that just painted rocks
with the boys.
So they went to go find rockssome just around campus and they
painted them, wow.
(34:04):
So one of them was painted likean avocado.
So that was interesting to findon the ground.
And then, like there's turkeyhands on bigger rocks,
spider-man rocks, like it's justinteresting.
But it was just a fun expressiveoutlet for the boys all because
of a local artist who says Iknow how to paint and I know how
(34:24):
to teach kids how to paint, solet me go volunteer my time.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
It's funny you said that because I just found a
whole bunch of painted rocks attown center, just kind of put in
the garden, so I don't know ifyou guys all came and I can
neither confirm nor deny thatthey're your rocks.
Well, one of them was a reallybright pink, bejeweled.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I can neither confirm nor deny that.
I saw that in the office.
You did that one, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
No, you did the pink bejeweled one, but I think
they're fun, they'reeye-catching, and I love all the
ideas, and I'm sure there'sthings that volunteers can do
that we haven't even thought ofyet, right, yeah?
So I'm going to ask you acouple questions now.
Go for it, if you don't mind.
Michael and I are going to dothis Hot seat, hot seat.
So if there's one business thatyou could possibly partner with
(35:08):
, that's kind of like a dream, Imean, take it to whatever you'd
like to take it to.
What would it be and what kindof dream project would it be If
you could have anybody in theworld as a, as a business?
Speaker 1 (35:23):
partner.
Again another hard questionyeah, because we've got I didn't
say this was going to be easythis is.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
This is like defending my dissertation, but
if you could do that, you cananswer my that's true.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Um, so I think it would have to be the south
Carolina Aquarium for an entiremonth in June, which I think is
National Ocean Month.
They'd have to correct me onthat, but it'd be great to
develop a four-week-long programwhere the boys learn about the
ocean and the harbor and ourestuaries learn about the life
(36:01):
that calls all these places home.
Have a chance to go on abehind-the-scenes tour at the
aquarium I love it and maybe,maybe, go see a turtle that
they've rehabbed and recoveredbe released, because I mean that
would be so cool for the boysto see.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I think that's amazing.
We have a connection with theaquarium.
I'm going to have to give thema call.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Well, they've got my email twice now on this podcast,
so this could be great.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
If you're listening.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Aquarium reach out direct.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
I mean, you heard that dream, you heard that dream
, that dream business to partnerwith.
I'm a huge fan of the aquarium,oh it's so fun.
I find under the sea creaturesfascinating.
Yeah, I don't know how fishdon't breathe, I just find the
whole thing is fascinating to me.
(36:50):
And they do such a great job atthe aquarium.
They really do and especiallywith all the turtle hatchings
and their kids programs.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
They really do a good job with that.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
They're recent.
No free ads, by the way.
So sorry, but the recent event,aquarium Aglo, is always a fun
event to go to.
It's a fun time.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
That's pretty amazing .
And then, on the flip side ofthat, has there ever been and
you don't have to give anyspecific names, but has a local
business ever come to you with akind of off-the-wall idea?
That worked out just?
Speaker 1 (37:25):
perfectly Coastal Expeditions.
The OWL program is notWynwood's brainchild.
We had the seeds to make ithappen but Captain Chris really
saw what we had to offer oncampus and took it and ran with
it and before you know businessterms, we'll pilot this.
(37:47):
We're not really committed todoing this program long term if
it doesn't work out.
That pilot term only lastedmaybe three weeks on Wynwood's
campus.
It was an immediate hit withour programming, with the boys,
with our staff.
We couldn't have come up withit if it wasn't for captain
(38:10):
gross that's pretty amazing thatis, that's outstanding.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
So here's one for you and I'm going to cheat a little
bit because I have a littlebackground information here, but
if you were going to do afundraising event in addition to
the gala, what might that be?
What are some thoughts andideas of something extra that
some of our businesses mightlike to get behind?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
So for the background .
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Mike knows the secret that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
He's been involved in this idea that I've been having
since we met last yearNon-committal.
Okay, this is just an idea, butthinking about how do we
utilize that 30 acre pond, whichis really a lake on our
property?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
of course it has to do with fishing.
Why do I even yeah questionwhat this could possibly?
Be, at first I said golf, andthen I'm like no, no, it's
michael, it's fishing yep it.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So we we have been thinking about what would it
look like to invite localbusinesses and local anglers to
come out and basically do akids' fish tournament.
I love it Just to offer anothertouchpoint or another
opportunity for communityengagement, but again focusing
on the children, giving anopportunity for the boys to have
(39:28):
a healthy encounter withanother human being.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Right, that's what it boils down to.
Yeah, I think you need to movethat out of the thinking stage,
because I think that would behugely, hugely successful.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
It would be fun, but we have to.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
There's a lot of dots to be connected.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Of course, a lot of people, as any fundraiser,
absolutely.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
But in Charleston you have two of the largest
manufacturers of equipment forfishing and on the tackle side,
right here in Charleston, ohyeah, two of the largest, oh
yeah, z-man is my favorite.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Personal no free ads.
Yes, yes, if you want to catchfish, use Z-Man, but it would be
great to partner with them.
We just need to think a littlebit more strategically and
develop the idea more so that,if we were to launch it, it's
giving it a fair shot at beingmore than a pilot.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
I think I know someone.
I'll volunteer as a chairmanfor the fishing tournament.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
I think I do too.
Everybody hear that right now,right.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Michael said yes, michael just committed to that.
Yes, I did.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
This podcast will live on the internet forever.
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
You can't go back now ?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
No, but I think what I love about that is obviously
not just because I think itwould be so much fun for the
boys.
But you're right about you'vegot that pond right, and you've
got that pond right and you'vegot I mean, you've got the
environment.
You don't have to create one,you don't have to make one up,
it's there and you're doing tome.
That's amazing that you want todo something.
(40:59):
You don't even have to startfrom scratch.
You don't have to make a pond,you don't have to bring fish.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
You don't have to do any of that, it's there.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
What a great way to start off what could be a very
successful fundraiser.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, maybe, but again it goes it always for me
with my role, it always has toconnect back to how are we
helping the kids in theirtreatment and in their progress?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
But they could actually get involved with that?
Oh, absolutely, because I don'tknow, know.
Do they get dressed up and goto the gala?
They do not so this could be away for them to be hands-on
absolutely in the fundraising.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, yes, my look my scene now michael's yeah, I
know, the wheels are turning,that's it, the wheels are
turning that's it, amanda.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Take note of this okay okay, remember the date.
So if you could have like agigantic magic wand right and
just grant one great, amazingwish for your program, what
would it be so, outside of Nothaving any kids there?
Speaker 1 (42:03):
ever again right the need, not existing Right.
So let's just put that forgranted out there on the table.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
Yes, because that would be everybody's wish.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
It relates back to fishing.
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
It's okay.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
But I would love.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Is it because he's the co-host?
No, not at all.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
No not at all.
This is my wish forever.
Okay okay, I would wish thatevery child who goes fishing
would catch at least one fishevery time they go fishing.
Not every time they cast,because it's called fishing for
a reason.
But if you want to see somekids who've had a rough go at
life just be through the moonexcited, you'll put a fish on
(42:44):
the hook for them and you'llwatch them reel it in.
Put a fish on the hook for themand you'll watch them reel it
in.
You'll see them gaze at thisfish as you take it off the hook
and just the the.
There's not a clearer exampleof a sense of accomplishment
than when these kids reel in afish so I would love for every
kid.
I think that's one of thesweetest things I've heard on
(43:06):
this podcast.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Absolutely oh thanks.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Of all the ones that I've recorded.
That was really, really sweet,thank you, but it is true, if I
had the wand, I would do it foryou, rick.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
I honestly would.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Thanks, I got her wish now too, yes.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
That's exactly right.
I'll give you my wish.
And then what about a famouscelebrity?
If you could pick any famouscelebrity to support the cause,
who would you pick, and why?
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Sorry, I had to ask the boys about this because I
don't really stay in touch withcelebrity news.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I'm sure you've got a slew of suggestions.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
All superheroes.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I was getting ready to say they have a superhero,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
So Spider-Man is a top choice, iron man was another
one, and then Batman cominginto third place.
What Really?
So yeah, if we could get any ofthose three.
No, obviously they're fictionalcharacters, but if they were
real, bruce Wayne would begetting a phone call every week.
Oh, that's hysterical.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
You know so when we do the fishing tournament.
Oh, that's hysterical.
You know we have to, so when wedo the fishing tournament we're
going to have costumecharacters as Spider-Man and
Batman and Iron man.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
We're going to have them all make an appearance.
Love it, put that on the listtoo.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yeah, now we're committed On my event planning
Podcast forever.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
That's right, my event planning.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
But how much fun, I mean, that would be so much fun
for the boys absolutely that'shysterical.
I absolutely love it.
Um, and I've got one more foryou personally.
And then, um, what about amovie?
If there's a movie made aboutwhat you do, who would play you?
Speaker 1 (44:42):
okay, so it would have to exist in the sesame
street universe.
The title would probably besomething like I'll Walk Down
the Farm Road, because Wynwoodis located on Wynwood Farm Road,
and I would probably be playedby Glover Grover.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Grover.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I thought it was Glover Grover.
Well, Mike, please edit thatout.
That one will definitely stayin.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
No, that's really cool, though I like Grover
Grover's awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
He's great.
He's one of my favoritecharacters on Sesame Street.
He's amazing.
Yes, I mean you want to talkabout the spectrum of acting
ability.
We're talking about Grover,grover, grover.
See, now I'm all messed, I'mall turned around that would be
(45:33):
great.
I'm down for that too, as longas I get to keep it at the end
and put it in my office.
That would be funny.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
Well, yeah, let's start making some phone calls to
some movie studios.
Right, we could do that, that'sright, that'd be pretty awesome
.
Mike, do you have anything elsefor Rick before I tie things up
here?
Speaker 3 (45:56):
So you know the friend-raising aspect you
mentioned, you know meeting withpotential donors, just people
to network with.
I mean, when we first met tonetwork, we had breakfast and
just breakfast and coffee.
But I mean what, what wouldyour ideal um week look like
with networking with folks?
Just to get the word out on apersonal, intimate level
(46:20):
probably what we did.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Okay, I think.
Now don't get me wrong, I lovenetworking events.
It's fun.
I've met some great colleaguesthere.
I've made good friends thereand I go to them often.
I was just a few months ago atthe veteran small business um
breakfast, slash coffee on theuss, yorktown and that was great
(46:42):
.
Got to interact with my tribeof veterans but also talk about
winwood, right.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
But I think initially relationships are formed best
and conversation happens bestwhen you're just sitting around
drinking coffee, right so ifyou're listening to this, please
reach out to rick and buy him acup of coffee and have a good
conversation I'll buy you a cupof coffee because I'll invite
(47:09):
you in.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
I'm a southern gentleman from Texas, so if I
invite you somewhere I'm paying.
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
Well, I agree with you.
I think that there's alldifferent ways to network.
I actually have someone I knowwho recently joined the chamber
and claims that she's shy, right, and I said, well, that's fine,
why don't you come and I'll bethere?
And so I've introduced her andthen I've left her, and then I
get a phone call.
(47:36):
You know, thank you, thank you,thank you.
So, and she's also attendedsome of the smaller events and
some of the bigger events.
So, you know, networking isextremely important, but you
have to be as far it works bestwhen you're in the situation
that is more comfortable for you, right, right, because if you
are afraid, to be not afraid, Ishouldn't say that.
(47:57):
If you are not comfortable in alarge group of strangers, you
know you don't want to go, justgo.
You're not going to walk.
Go there and start tapping onpeople's back and introducing
yourself, Right?
So I just go.
You're not going to walk.
Go there and start tapping onpeople's back and introducing
yourself right um, so um.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
I think it's important to learn the best way
for you to network.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Um so rick is going to buy you coffee.
That's his best way ofnetworking.
That's right, which is awesomeyou're not getting out of coming
to chamber events no,absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
Okay, chamber events are so fun.
Definitely go.
Go to the business expo.
If you don't go to the Expo, nofree ads.
But if you don't go to the Expo, you're missing out.
Speaker 2 (48:33):
I agree 100% on that's right, that was a great.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
Our Expos are pretty amazing yes, they are pretty,
they are absolutely amazing yep,and that same friend I just
talked about.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
I got a booth that was she had just joined last
year and got in a booth and shecould not stop talking about how
many connections she made.
Oh yeah, and how she kind ofcame out of her shell at that
particular event because shefelt so comfortable there.
Speaker 3 (48:56):
And it's free to attend.
It's free.
It's free, yes, to attend, yes.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
All right.
So, looking ahead at youramazing organization, your hopes
for the future, obviously againto continue the great work and
stuff, but these families thatyou serve and these boys that
you serve, I mean it must meanthe world to you to be able to
do that every day to help thesefamilies.
What are your hopes for thefuture?
Speaker 1 (49:23):
So you are right.
It's incredibly motivating tobe a part of something that is
so much bigger than myself andserving needs that I care deeply
about.
My hope for the future,honestly, is just seeing an
organization that is servingmore families in our community.
(49:44):
So expanding our services Isthat a possibility ever?
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I'm assuming there's a limit onthe number for a reason.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
so expanding our, our services, is that a possibility
ever?
Speaker 2 (49:49):
or oh yeah, absolutely, I'm assuming there's
a limit on the number for areason so, within our community
program, we can expand services.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
We can also expand our services on campus, but
there are some statutoryregulations that limit how many
kids can be on there.
Right, um, but I see a futurewhere where we are capping out
the number of children that wecan serve.
I see a future where thechildren that we serve are
leaving the farm happier andhealthier than they ever have
(50:23):
been.
I see a future where familiesin our communities are stronger.
I see them strengthened becauseof the services that they've
received from Wynwood andorganizations like us, but also
an opportunity where the needthat is currently existing in
our community and state andthroughout the nation starts to
(50:46):
be addressed.
The nation starts to beaddressed not just because
organizations like us exist, butbecause families are doing the
hard work of getting healthier,getting stronger and and just
really living into what a familyis all right.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
So for all again, everyone who's listening today,
whether it's for yourself or foryour business.
You're going to email Rick, sosay your email again.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Yeah, it is rick R-I-C-K dot L-O-T-T-A-N at
winwoodfarmorg.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
So we're going to email Rick to set up coffee, to
discuss fundraising, to discusssponsorship, to discuss
volunteerism, to discuss whatyou can do today to help this
amazing, amazing organizationthat is the heart of our
community.
Rick, I cannot thank you enoughfor talking about this
(51:45):
incredible place with us today.
Your time and everything thatyou've done for these boys is
duly noted and very respectful.
So I am.
I've learned a lot and I reallyneed to get out there, I'll
host you on a farm tour if youwant.
Well, I'm gonna email you later,and I'm gonna, we're gonna have
coffee.
Please do For sure.
Would love to have you.
(52:05):
That's awesome.
Thank you so much, and Michael.
Michael, thank you so much forbeing in my cohort as usual,
glad to be here.
Again.
Everybody, get to their website, get out there, help the
community.
Before we leave, we also needto thank our sponsors again
Charleston Radio Group Studiosand, of course, the Mount
Pleasant Chamber of Commerce.
If you are interested insponsoring or being a guest on
(52:26):
our show, in sponsoring or beinga guest on our show, you can
just reach out to anybody in thechamber and we'll get back to
you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels.
We are on Spotify, itunes,YouTube, instagram, facebook and
LinkedIn.
So again, thank you for beingwith us today.
Until next time, mount Pleasant, until next time listeners.
We are in 2025.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Yes, we're in 2025.
Mr Lotton, lotton.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Lotton, yep, you got this.
No Thanksgiving, no Christmas.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, Thanksgiving and Christmas was great.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording today in theCharleston Radio Group Studios.
Huge supporters of the chamber,thank you for recording with us
today.
I am Kathy Herman.
I am your immediate pastpresident of the Mount Pleasant
Chamber, so that means I servedas president in 2024 and I'm
(00:36):
still on the board this year.
My real job I am the marketingdirector for Mount Pleasant Town
Center, and I'm joined today byone of my favorite co-hosts,
michael Cochran.
Michael Cochran served as theChamber Foundation Chair last
year, in 2024.
So thank you for everything youdid for us last year, michael,
(00:58):
and tell our listeners a littlebit more about yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you Great to be hereagain, Kathy and I am a Farm
Bureau insurance agent, so I'min the insurance side of the
world and love living in MountPleasant.
I've lived in Mount Pleasantfor over 30 years in the
Lowcountry and absolutely loveit and I love our chamber and
love this venture that we'vedone with this podcast so that
(01:21):
we can get local folks in hereto talk about great business and
get things done.
It's all about chambering, as apast president has once said.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Oh, absolutely, and we have another incredible guest
for you today.
Last year's podcast just keptgetting better and better and
better, and I'm really lookingforward to all of the podcasts
we'll be doing this year.
So we have a really specialguest here today.
He is the major gifts managerat Wynwood Farm and Home for
(01:49):
Children.
If you are not familiar withthem, you're missing out.
However, wynwood FamilyServices provides help, hope and
healing through behavioral,educational and therapeutic
interventions which enhancesocial functioning and
well-being, ensure safety andwork to achieve positive
(02:12):
permanency for children andfamilies in our community.
So I am so excited to welcometo our podcast today Rick Layton
.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I think we should kind of wrapup now, because that was perfect
, that was perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, that was what that was on your website.
I can't say that I wrote it,but they, whoever wrote your
website, did it perfectly.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Way to go, mia, when you listen to this.
Good job, kudos.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, we're really excited to have you here today,
because I don't know if there'sanyone out there that does not
know about Wynwood Family or and, but it's an incredible
organization.
I can't wait to share all ofyour information with our
businesses in the community.
But we were just talking aboutthe website, so I'm going to
start with there the first thingI saw on the website.
(02:56):
Rick said because of WynwoodFamily Services, more than 5,000
local children have been ableto stay with their families
instead of protective custodyover the last 10 years.
That is some achievement.
Yeah, some achievement.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
It's a highlight of our services.
Oh, we're going to have to editthat out, but it's a highlight
of our services.
So that achievement is reallybecause of our community-based
team.
So that achievement is reallybecause of our community-based
team.
So we have a preventative,proactive approach to child
abuse, neglect and maltreatmentas one of our major flagship
programs.
(03:34):
So what that team does is workwith families who have
substantiated cases of childabuse, neglect or maltreatment
to provide wraparound servicesto help strengthen that family
and hopefully keep that familytogether instead of entering
foster care.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I mean, that is just that's some goal.
But 5,000 in 10 years, that's apretty and crazy number, isn't
it Michael?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's an incredible number, the work that when you
think about, when you put thatinto perspective, that's just,
we see you know families in thelocal area and you think about
that sheer number 5,000, and howmany lives are affected.
I mean, we go out and we seewhen we go to dinner you know a
family with like two or threekids, you know.
Or you go to a birthday partyand you see you know like 20, 30
kids.
We're talking 5,000.
(04:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That's a good point right now within 10 years,
winwood has done less than wando.
But I mean lucy beckham, maybethat's a whole lot of impact,
yeah that's insane.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So let's, just before we get into like the weeds, um,
can you give our listeners justlike an overview of the mission
of Wynwood Farms and like keyprograms and how it works etc.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Just like you shared earlier,we provide help, hope and
healing through therapeutic,educational and recreational
interventions is we work withchildren who have either been
founded to have some neglect,maltreatment or abuse in their
life to keep them with theirfamilies, which is the preferred
(05:10):
setting of child development,or, in the cases where we're
interacting with somebody who'salready been separated, we help
them recover from their traumathrough various forms of therapy
that's really focused ontrauma-informed care, of therapy
that's really focused ontrauma-informed care.
So we work with them, eitherthrough our preventative
family-based or community-basedprograms or our residential
(05:31):
programs in Allendale, to reallyget them to a point where they
can either keep or stay withtheir families or reintegrate
into a foster placement whetherthat's kinship care or an actual
traditional foster family andcontinue to have a normal,
healthy life like any otherchild should have.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Are these children placed with you through DSS or
the police?
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So for our community-based program we're
all referred these cases by DSS.
And then within our residentialprograms there's two programs
on-site, so one of them isreferred by DSS, the other one
is voluntary placements withcommunity referrals right and,
on a side note, the chamberitself, our community engagement
(06:17):
committee.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I know they've worked with there.
I'm going to talk about that ina second but we've also done to
go bags for DSS right, and Ididn't know what that was until
I joined the chamber.
And for those of you who don'tknow, if we ever asked for
donations, it's for these.
If someone needs to get taken,and immediately from their
(06:38):
family, there's a bag.
They have a bag to go to fostercare with and not just have to
throw all of their belongingsinto a garbage bag and leave.
So if anyone's ever asking fora donation for GoBags for DSS,
please write that down on yourlist.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Well, and then, on that note, I'm not sure if y'all
know this, but Mount PleasantChamber actually gave Wynwood,
or provided, a whole bunch ofschool supplies and backpacks
for the boys at Wynwood thispast school year, because a lot
of kids will come in and justnot be prepared for school on
site.
So it's a great opportunity forthese kids to come to a strange
(07:14):
new place away from theirfamilies and instantly be met
with.
Here's a backpack from thecommunity for people who care
about you.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
See, we care.
Yeah, we're so nice, we care.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
A lot of're so nice.
We care.
A lot of people care.
That's right, but it's great.
Put yourself in the perspectiveof a child who's just gone to a
brand new place.
You don't have your siblings,you don't have your mom and dad
and you're told you're going tobe staying here for a while.
That could be kind of shocking.
It's wonderful to receive abackpack that is yours that
(07:47):
looks like it belongs to a kid.
Like there was basketballs,there was an astronaut, there
were dinosaurs on this.
Like imagine how great a senseof normalcy that is in a really
weird time in life.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
No, I think that's great, and is there a typical
number of kids that you have ateach time, or does that range?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
So we have capacity for 28 on campus between our two
programs, we're almostconstantly full.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
It's sad to say, but I was expecting you to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, so we're the only.
We're going to get into theweeds for a little bit, but I'll
pull this out, I promise Sure.
So within the child well-beingspace within South Carolina,
wynwood is currently the onlyqualified residential treatment
program which is a specialsetting within DSS's continuum
of care.
Basically, getting out of theweeds now, that means we provide
(08:43):
high-level treatment forchildren who have extreme
psychological or behavioralconditions as a result of trauma
.
So we're a highly specializedorganization that treats these
kids and the beauty of it eventhough we're unique, the beauty
of it is places like Wynwoodexist so that these kids who
(09:06):
need the help can get it.
But it also is a challengebecause, as of right now, we are
the only one.
So the kids who need theseservices but can't access it yet
have to wait.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I'm sure there's a waiting list.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Unfortunately.
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So a quick question about the history of Wynwood
that I've got.
I'm sure there's a waiting list, Unfortunately yeah, yeah, I'm
sure, wow, wow.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So a quick question about the history of Wynwood
that I've got, because I knowthat there's some very special
people that pulled together andactually pulled the trigger to
make this happen.
Was it 25, 30 years ago, 39,now 39.
Can you tell us a little bitabout how it started, what the
vision was, and then just kindof bring us up to where we are
(09:47):
now?
Yeah, because there's a lot ofspecial people.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, and we are the modern day.
Wynwood is built on theshoulders of some amazing people
.
We would not be where we aretoday if it weren't for our
original board, for our founder,for all of our donors from the
past and current donors.
So I mean, it's the saying isso cliche, but it takes a
(10:09):
village.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
And who was the founder?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So the founder is Joseph Tamsberg.
He goes by Jody.
Jody actually lived on propertyin the early 80s before Wynwood
was Wynwood, before Wynwood wasWynwood, and he adopted two
sons out of South Carolina DSSand really had a heart for
taking care of children withinthe custody of DSS.
And when he decided to moveback to Georgetown, instead of
(10:34):
selling the property andprobably making tons of money on
it, he said I want to start anorganization that serves boys
who have been abused andneglected in South Carolina to
take care of them.
So Wynwood started in 1985.
Our first group home is stillon campus.
It's now an administrativebuilding, but it's the home
(10:55):
where he raised his family.
It's the home where we had ourfirst six boys and now where
most of our administrative workhappens.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I've been out to the property probably eight times or
so, six or eight times withFarm Bureau, with different
things that we've done with youguys, and the property is
amazing.
I mean, how many acres in thecountry is that?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So it's 110 acres and I know you're a bass fisherman,
so about 30 of that are pondsthat are just stocked full of
all the bass you could possiblyimagine.
But it's 110 acres out in theNational.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Forest, don't tempt him.
He's going to get up and gofishing right now.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
We already got something lined up for the
spring.
It's going to be fun, okay good, but 110 acres out in the
National Forest and it ispristine low-country beauty.
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Absolutely, absolutely.
They've got this amazing pondhouse, I think it's called the
first year I got involved.
We donated all the Christmasgifts.
We said give us your Christmasgift list.
We filled the entire list andwe went out to the pond house.
That was where they were goingto wrap everything.
Kids were not allowed there forabout a 30-day period, but just
(12:10):
sitting there looking at themajestic just how beautiful it
was and I was like, if you needa therapeutic environment, y'all
have captured it.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, absolutely have captured that yeah, and that's
again going all the way back tojody's vision of why winwood all
the way out there in ondaw, allthe way out there in the forest
is to maintain that naturalenvironment that helps kids just
be kids, get away from thehustle and bustle of city life
and just focus on the workthey've got to do to recover
(12:37):
from trauma, heal and just havea sense of hope for the future.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So everything for the boys is done on campus.
So they live there, they go toschool there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
A vast majority of life happens on the farm for
them, so they live there, theyeat there.
We have a Charleston Countyaccredited schoolhouse on campus
that provides remedialeducation for the boys, but they
also go off campus prettyfrequently on community outings,
which is just like a really funtime for them to go do really
(13:08):
exciting things but also to justpractice the social skills that
they're learning within theirtherapeutic treatment.
To better understand what doesnormal life look like when I
discharge from Wynwood, and whatabout the ages?
So we're licensed to care forchildren between the ages of 6
to 16 that's the toughest timetoo yeah 6 to 16 is rough, but
(13:30):
it's fun.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
It's so fun, I'm so glad.
I'm so glad.
Now you are, um, the majorgifts manager.
Yep, does that mean?
Does that mean you're the moneyman?
Uh, maybe it means I'm afundraiser, you're the money man
.
Maybe it means I'm a fundraiser, you're the fundraiser, money
man.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Friendraiser.
You are the friendraiser.
I like that perspective.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I like that, Michael.
We're going to call you thatfrom now on.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I'm all right with that.
You're the friendraiser, I'mall right with that, I'll get
new business cards.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's amazing Such an organization to promote.
It's always nice right whenyou're trying to fundraise for
something, an organization thateverybody knows and really is
doing some incredible work.
So, as a major gifts manager, acouple of things Kind of tell
us what our businesses could dofor you.
(14:19):
Is it solely financial.
Any other kind of gifts youlook for.
Is it just money?
Let our local businesses knowhow they can help you.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, that's going to be a broad answer because it's
a wide, open spectrum.
We've got partnerships withbusinesses that come out to do
financial literacy for some ofthe older boys because it's an
important skill to have in lifefinancial literacy for some of
the older boys because it's animportant skill to have in life.
We've had organizations comeout to do board games and pizza
(14:53):
with the boys once a month whereit's just like a fun little
touch point for the kids to justhave normal relationships with
people.
We've had businesses come induring gala season and provide
really interesting and uniqueand kind gifts that we can
auction off to raise funds.
And, of course, we've had grantmakers or businesses come in
and say man, we really want tosupport the work that you're
(15:13):
doing.
Here's a check for X amount ofmoney.
Please use it for whatever youneed.
And it's a hard answer toprovide because all of that is
so important to what we do.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It's never just about money.
I mean, money helps run theworld, but there are so many
other things.
I've always said if you don'thave the money to give, you
always have your time to give,right, right.
And so do you manage all ofthat for them?
That not really, no okay.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
So we have a great team within the development team
at Wynwood.
So we have our chiefphilanthropy officer who
oversees our entire team.
We have an event andcommunications manager that does
all of our events.
We have a volunteer coordinatorthat works with a lot of
businesses, churches, civicgroups, that just anything you
(16:05):
want to do volunteering-wise,she's your person.
I'm really kind of themiddleman between them all,
trying to connect people towhere they actually want to go.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's pretty amazing .
Speaker 1 (16:16):
It's fun yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
We were talking about the money side a little bit.
In addition to the volunteerand your time you had shared
with me a while back, somespecific dollars.
I'm going to get real granularSure the amount of money that it
takes for, say, an hour oftherapy outdoor therapy or
therapy was staggering, and thenfor the 28 kids could you share
(16:41):
with our listeners and ourviewers some of those details of
literally what we're talkingabout.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, so we talk in terms of trauma-informed therapy
because that is what Wynwooddoes.
It's what makes us unique.
So an hour of therapy for onechild is $110.
Now these boys go to on averagesix hours of therapy a month.
(17:08):
So $660 per child for one monthand that's just I don't want to
say the minimum, but that'sreally the brass tacks.
Now more therapy happens thanthat, but it's kind of what we
project out for each child intheir treatment.
So we're talking gosh, I'mhorrible at quick math, but
(17:32):
we're talking about thousands ofdollars a month that winwood
needs to help provide thesechildren not just
trauma-informed care but reallythe opportunity to regain some
hope, to heal from trauma and toreally be excited about what
the future has for them.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
What are some of the examples of the outdoor therapy
that you do?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So, outside of normal recreational activities like
riding bikes and fishing,playing basketball, kickball all
those are like top favoritethings that you can do at
Wynwood.
We actually started a newprogram last year called the
Outdoor Wilderness LeadershipProgram OWL for short.
It's led by Coastal Expeditionstaff off of Sham Creek led by
(18:21):
Coastal Expedition staff off ofSham Creek, and they come to
campus once a week withalternating programs with our
residential programs on campusto provide hands-on
environmental educationcurriculum that really just one
teaches them about the naturearound them because with 110
acres in the forest that's awhole lot of nature.
But it also just gives themtime and energy to practice
(18:45):
skills like awareness or skillslike working together on teams.
Just build a shelter in theforest using only natural
elements around us and honestlyit just gives them an
opportunity to develop a senseof place and belonging at
Wynwood, because again, thesekids aren't from Wynwood and
(19:07):
they're not going to stay therelong term.
The average length of stay isanywhere between 9 to 12 months,
depending on their treatmentplan and progress through that.
So really what we're trying todo is make them feel at home at
Wynwood but also give them anopportunity to be educated and
to grow social skills as they'redoing.
That that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And what organization did you say helps you with that
Coastal?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Expeditions.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
They have.
I think their headquarters ison Shem Creek, but they have a
Keowa River location as well.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And see, there you go , donating right.
Yeah, sure, I mean, that soundslike a major way of impacting
these children, giving up theirtime to provide them with
something they need.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, that was actually a donor-funded program
for us.
But, knowing the CoastalExpedition staff, the energy and
the heart and I mean thepassion that they put outside of
the time that they spend withus, I mean they're definitely
volunteering time outside ofwork to to make this program the
best it could be I'm sure theboys love it too oh my gosh,
(20:08):
it's so.
They love it so much,especially when it's fishing or
or when it's, uh, buildingshelters in the woods.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They love that I wouldn't mind getting lost in
the woods.
Every once in a while, I thinkI have to find my way over there
and help out.
Come on, it's on tuesdays it'son tuesdays I'll host you.
All right, I would love to seetuesdays call rick, go over and
help him out.
Um, and then let's talk aboutthe long term, like long-term
goals and impact of everything.
(20:35):
So again, not just necessarilymoney, but like how do you got?
How do you measure yourlong-term results?
Is that rehabilitating the boysand getting them out in a
certain amount of time?
What do you consider to be themeasure of success for Wynwood?
Speaker 1 (20:50):
The measure of success for Wynwood is positive.
Permanency, which is a termused throughout this service
space, but Wynwood defines it asany placement for longer than
six months post-discharge got it.
So that's foster family, that'skinship care.
Um, in the past it was othergroup homes that were lower
(21:12):
level, like independent livingskills facilities.
So that is the metric that weuse to define whether or not
we're actually being successful.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
That's great and it's good numbers, isn't?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
it, 95% of our children achieve positive
permanency Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's something to be very proud of.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, again, I love what Wendy does.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I know I can see you're smiling Every time I
bring it up, you start to smile.
I know it's great, I love it.
That's really that really apretty amazing number.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
If you could break out a little bit on the
educational side with theschooling.
That's Charleston County PublicSchool, correct?
I mean you have a CharlestonCounty school on site.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So great question.
We're actually an affiliate ofLiberty Hill Academy in North
Charleston.
Essentially, what that means isthey provide the staff, the
administrative help, pretty mucheverything that we need to make
education actually happenhappen on campus, but we provide
(22:17):
the students and the facility.
So Wynwood doesn't haveteachers, we have Liberty Hill
teachers at.
Wynwood doesn't have teacherswe have Liberty Hill teachers at
Wynwood.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, it's an amazing partnership.
Again, Wynwood could not bewhat Wynwood is without the
community that we're a part of.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
It sounds to me like you're not just a major gifts
manager, are you?
You get involved?
Well, it sounds to me likeyou're not just a major gifts
manager, are you?
You get involved.
Well, I'm assuming and you cantell me I'm wrong, but from the
way you're speaking and thesmile on your face, you probably
get a little bit more involvedin things that you don't
necessarily have to get involvedwith, don't you?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, I've been a part of different great groups
outside of work, but thisopportunity has really I mean,
it's allowed me to engage withsome rock stars in our community
.
It's amazing.
That's why, when you were like,are you the money man?
There's so much more than that.
Of course there is, but it'sgreat.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Rick, I know one of the highlights of y'all's year
one of the biggest focuses is onthe fundraising side is your
gala.
So every year you have a biggala.
Can you talk to us, talk to ourlisteners, about the gala
itself?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Man.
All right, I'm going to tease alittle bit, go ahead.
But yes, we're entering our40th year at Wynwood.
It's a huge accomplishment.
This year's gala is going to beI mean, I'm thinking in terms
of Disneyland with indoorfireworks and just like rah-rah.
(23:56):
It's going to be great.
That probably won't happen.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
But it is going to be a night to remember.
Well, come on, why not, let'sstart working on that now?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
well, you know hotels and fire code and you know I
won't tell anybody.
I know people at the town will,and this, this podcast, lives
forever, so the fire marshalcould be like rick, don't listen
, fire marshal yeah, so, uh,chief mixon, pay, don't pay
attention.
Anyway, the gala is by far thelargest event that we do every
(24:25):
single year.
It's an opportunity for us toshowcase not just the impact
that we had the year before, butalso an opportunity to invite
businesses, individuals,foundations to be a part of next
year.
This past gala it's hard to putit in context because it was so
(24:46):
successful that the year beforeit almost looks like nothing
happened Again.
That's all because of the greatteam that we have at Wynwood.
It has very little, if nothing,to do with me it's not a
planner, planner I I'm I'm notour event planner.
(25:09):
I'll get involved, I can help,but I'll just show up that you
tell me where you need me tomove things and I'll do it.
But that's really because ofthe great mind of of our event
planner, mia ballman, who's justI mean, a rock star.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Now I'm assuming our local businesses can get
involved with this.
Oh, absolutely Right.
Oh, yeah, so make sure you tellthem where they can go to get
some more information aboutsponsoring this amazing event.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
You can reach me at my email ricklotten L-H-O--a-n
at winwoodfarmorg.
I'd love to take you out tocoffee and talk sponsorship
options.
There you go there you go withyour gala.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Is it a?
Is it a sponsored table?
Like you have a certain numberof tables and a sponsor pays a
certain dollar amount for eightor ten seats.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
That's that work, that's exactly exactly how our
model works and we work withsponsors.
Most of the time they filltheir eight or ten seats really
quickly, which is great becausethey're engaging their network
to invite them into somethingthat they care about.
That's how we growrelationships within our
community.
But other times some peoplewill just say I want to sponsor
(26:20):
a table, or I want to sponsor ahigher-level sponsorship, but I
can't attend for any number ofreasons.
Here's the table back.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Feel free to sell it again, or sell it again.
Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, it's awesome Again.
Incredibly selfless.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Right, yeah, have you been Michael.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I have not been to this one.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
No, no, well, just have your marketing team reach
out to me at ricklaughton, atwinwoodfarmorg.
We can talk sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
We sure can, absolutely yes yes, yes, that
sounds like a pretty lovelyevening.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Oh yeah, it was awesome this past year.
I hate to sound like amillennial, but the vibes were
immaculate.
I mean it was amazing.
The amount of energy in theroom was amazing.
(27:14):
The people that we had in theroom really rallied around our
organization.
It was just a fun time to bearound.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So good.
I'm really glad that you gotthat out there so our businesses
can help you out with that.
But speaking more about localbusiness, can you give us an
example of some successfulcollaborations that you've had
with local businesses and howit's impacted both the business
and Windward?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, so that's a hard question to answer.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Well, I think a perfect example is.
What we talked about before isthe business that helps with the
outside.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, so any other yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Great.
Any other examples I've got one.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Okay, I've got one.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Please.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
So, for six and a half years or so, we started
with gifts and now, duringholiday season, we provide the
meal for the children for theboys, and it's exciting because
all of our three offices gettogether.
Our company gives us a certainamount, we match it, and then we
bring honey-baked ham meals orwhatever they want.
We just bring it in and it's anexciting time to come in and
provide that.
And then we bring honey bakedham meals or whatever that,
(28:21):
whatever they want, we justbring it in and it's an exciting
time to come in and providethat and to give that.
You take the pressure offbecause the staff's under I mean
, it's always under the gunbecause it's 24-7 mm-hmm and so
we do that, and then some yearswe've we've given chick-fil-a
cards that you can usethroughout the years incentives
to incentivize the kids, youknow, to give them some more
(28:42):
normalcy.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
But that's just on a small scale, just one meal one
time a year, but it seems likeit's pretty impactful, yeah and
I mean it's a hard question toanswer because businesses do so
much right we I wouldn't call ita partnership, but there's one
particular barbershop in townthat the boys go to and it's the
highlight of the month for them.
It's a haircut.
(29:04):
That's not a big ordeal for me,but they look forward to it,
they enjoy it and that's such aI don't want to call it a niche
thing, but it's such anintangible impact that you can't
see unless you're on the farm.
When they come back from theair cuts looking fresh and
(29:26):
they're like Mr Rick, look atwhat I got here, nice, that's
awesome, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And I know last year the chamber again the Community
Engagement Committee, andcorrect me if I'm wrong, amanda,
but I think they paint, didn't?
They come in paint fences andcooked, cooked lunch with the
boy.
I mean, I I wasn't able to makeit that day so but I heard that
it was a really incredibleafternoon.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yeah, and is that?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
the type of things businesses can do for you or
yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
So the volunteering aspect for businesses can either
be one of two things One-offevents that come out to do
landscaping for us or helps usupdate some of the
infrastructure, like painting abarn, for example.
Just really try to make Wynwoodlook more beautiful.
Another thing that businessescan do is work with our
(30:21):
volunteer coordinator to developkind of a recurring program
that they help lead and run.
So the financial literacyexample is a great example of
this.
Wynn would host the program butoutside of making sure that all
the volunteers are compliantwith our policies for volunteers
, they really just run it Rightand it's so helpful.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Now, I don't think I asked you this how long have you
been?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
So I have been a volunteer for Wynwood for about
five years.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
And then on staff for over a year now.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Oh, so it's still a little new for you?
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, still a little new.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
That's why you're still smiling.
No, not at all, I'm kidding,I'm kidding, I'm kidding If I
got to go and work on a placethat sounds as beautiful as as
you describe it.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I think I'd be smiling too.
Yeah, so one place where thetrees change color in Charleston
, so that that's already enoughto fall in love with it.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
On the volunteer side , while we're there, is there a
vetting process or somebodywants to volunteer?
Is there a process that someoneneeds to go through?
You know, backgroundinvestigation, background check,
that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yeah, so because we interact or because we take care
of children that are in thestate's custody, who have been
traumatized and are vulnerable,there's a vetting process that
includes a background check,includes a sled check, and then
on top of that, there's ahandbook that we provide that
has every relevant waywoodpolicy that volunteers need to
(31:52):
know, just so that theyunderstand this is the the space
that you're entering because wewant you here.
You need to know how tointeract with either our
organization or our campus orour boys, just so that you
remain safe and our childrenremain safe is there an
orientation type class?
(32:12):
not really, but every singletime that we host a volunteer
group, we spend about 10 to 15minutes kind of covering what is
winynwood?
Who do we serve?
What do we do?
What are they going to be doing?
If they need help or if theysee something that they're not
familiar with, do not hesitateto let us know, right, and you
can volunteer for not justspecial events, right, rick?
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I mean you can volunteer just to help out, I
mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So we've got so many volunteer opportunities that it
could take a whole hour to tellyou.
Email, rick, email me, I'llconnect you to Julia.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
So we're going to email him about sponsoring the
gala and then you're going toemail him about donating your
time as a volunteer for thisorganization.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
But an urgent need at the moment is, if you like
reading to kids who are not goodat reading or want to get
better at reading, we reallyneed some reading buddies to
just come out every other weekand just read to the boys or
have the boys read to them.
Another one that we're lookingat, starting as a spring kind of
comes in, is a pollinator slashgarden person.
(33:19):
I have a black thumb soeverything I touch dies, so I'm
not gonna go into the garden.
But if you like gardening, ifyou are really good at keeping
houseplants alive that I'm notkeeping alive, right, reach out,
because we really need somehelp to start a garden for our
boys, to teach them so peoplecan take their strengths yes oh,
(33:42):
yeah, and and literally justgive them to these boys that
need that need to draw on thosestrengths.
Yeah and another great exampleis we had a local artist come
out I think a year and a halfago now, that just painted rocks
with the boys.
So they went to go find rockssome just around campus and they
painted them, wow.
(34:04):
So one of them was painted likean avocado.
So that was interesting to findon the ground.
And then, like there's turkeyhands on bigger rocks,
spider-man rocks, like it's justinteresting.
But it was just a fun expressiveoutlet for the boys all because
of a local artist who says Iknow how to paint and I know how
(34:24):
to teach kids how to paint, solet me go volunteer my time.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
It's funny you said that because I just found a
whole bunch of painted rocks attown center, just kind of put in
the garden, so I don't know ifyou guys all came and I can
neither confirm nor deny thatthey're your rocks.
Well, one of them was a reallybright pink, bejeweled.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I can neither confirm nor deny that.
I saw that in the office.
You did that one, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
No, you did the pink bejeweled one, but I think
they're fun, they'reeye-catching, and I love all the
ideas, and I'm sure there'sthings that volunteers can do
that we haven't even thought ofyet, right, yeah?
So I'm going to ask you acouple questions now.
Go for it, if you don't mind.
Michael and I are going to dothis Hot seat, hot seat.
So if there's one business thatyou could possibly partner with
(35:08):
, that's kind of like a dream, Imean, take it to whatever you'd
like to take it to.
What would it be and what kindof dream project would it be If
you could have anybody in theworld as a, as a business?
Speaker 1 (35:23):
partner.
Again another hard questionyeah, because we've got I didn't
say this was going to be easythis is.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
This is like defending my dissertation, but
if you could do that, you cananswer my that's true.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Um, so I think it would have to be the south
Carolina Aquarium for an entiremonth in June, which I think is
National Ocean Month.
They'd have to correct me onthat, but it'd be great to
develop a four-week-long programwhere the boys learn about the
ocean and the harbor and ourestuaries learn about the life
(36:01):
that calls all these places home.
Have a chance to go on abehind-the-scenes tour at the
aquarium I love it and maybe,maybe, go see a turtle that
they've rehabbed and recoveredbe released, because I mean that
would be so cool for the boysto see.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I think that's amazing.
We have a connection with theaquarium.
I'm going to have to give thema call.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Well, they've got my email twice now on this podcast,
so this could be great.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
If you're listening.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Aquarium reach out direct.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
I mean, you heard that dream, you heard that dream
, that dream business to partnerwith.
I'm a huge fan of the aquarium,oh it's so fun.
I find under the sea creaturesfascinating.
Yeah, I don't know how fishdon't breathe, I just find the
whole thing is fascinating to me.
(36:50):
And they do such a great job atthe aquarium.
They really do and especiallywith all the turtle hatchings
and their kids programs.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
They really do a good job with that.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
They're recent.
No free ads, by the way.
So sorry, but the recent event,aquarium Aglo, is always a fun
event to go to.
It's a fun time.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
That's pretty amazing .
And then, on the flip side ofthat, has there ever been and
you don't have to give anyspecific names, but has a local
business ever come to you with akind of off-the-wall idea?
That worked out just?
Speaker 1 (37:25):
perfectly Coastal Expeditions.
The OWL program is notWynwood's brainchild.
We had the seeds to make ithappen but Captain Chris really
saw what we had to offer oncampus and took it and ran with
it and before you know businessterms, we'll pilot this.
(37:47):
We're not really committed todoing this program long term if
it doesn't work out.
That pilot term only lastedmaybe three weeks on Wynwood's
campus.
It was an immediate hit withour programming, with the boys,
with our staff.
We couldn't have come up withit if it wasn't for captain
(38:10):
gross that's pretty amazing thatis, that's outstanding.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
So here's one for you and I'm going to cheat a little
bit because I have a littlebackground information here, but
if you were going to do afundraising event in addition to
the gala, what might that be?
What are some thoughts andideas of something extra that
some of our businesses mightlike to get behind?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
So for the background .
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Mike knows the secret that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
He's been involved in this idea that I've been having
since we met last yearNon-committal.
Okay, this is just an idea, butthinking about how do we
utilize that 30 acre pond, whichis really a lake on our
property?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
of course it has to do with fishing.
Why do I even yeah questionwhat this could possibly?
Be, at first I said golf, andthen I'm like no, no, it's
michael, it's fishing yep it.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So we we have been thinking about what would it
look like to invite localbusinesses and local anglers to
come out and basically do akids' fish tournament.
I love it Just to offer anothertouchpoint or another
opportunity for communityengagement, but again focusing
on the children, giving anopportunity for the boys to have
(39:28):
a healthy encounter withanother human being.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Right, that's what it boils down to.
Yeah, I think you need to movethat out of the thinking stage,
because I think that would behugely, hugely successful.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
It would be fun, but we have to.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
There's a lot of dots to be connected.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Of course, a lot of people, as any fundraiser,
absolutely.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
But in Charleston you have two of the largest
manufacturers of equipment forfishing and on the tackle side,
right here in Charleston, ohyeah, two of the largest, oh
yeah, z-man is my favorite.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Personal no free ads.
Yes, yes, if you want to catchfish, use Z-Man, but it would be
great to partner with them.
We just need to think a littlebit more strategically and
develop the idea more so that,if we were to launch it, it's
giving it a fair shot at beingmore than a pilot.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
I think I know someone.
I'll volunteer as a chairmanfor the fishing tournament.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
I think I do too.
Everybody hear that right now,right.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Michael said yes, michael just committed to that.
Yes, I did.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
This podcast will live on the internet forever.
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
You can't go back now ?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
No, but I think what I love about that is obviously
not just because I think itwould be so much fun for the
boys.
But you're right about you'vegot that pond right, and you've
got that pond right and you'vegot I mean, you've got the
environment.
You don't have to create one,you don't have to make one up,
it's there and you're doing tome.
That's amazing that you want todo something.
(40:59):
You don't even have to startfrom scratch.
You don't have to make a pond,you don't have to bring fish.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
You don't have to do any of that, it's there.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
What a great way to start off what could be a very
successful fundraiser.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, maybe, but again it goes it always for me
with my role, it always has toconnect back to how are we
helping the kids in theirtreatment and in their progress?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
But they could actually get involved with that?
Oh, absolutely, because I don'tknow, know.
Do they get dressed up and goto the gala?
They do not so this could be away for them to be hands-on
absolutely in the fundraising.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, yes, my look my scene now michael's yeah, I
know, the wheels are turning,that's it, the wheels are
turning that's it, amanda.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Take note of this okay okay, remember the date.
So if you could have like agigantic magic wand right and
just grant one great, amazingwish for your program, what
would it be so, outside of Nothaving any kids there?
Speaker 1 (42:03):
ever again right the need, not existing Right.
So let's just put that forgranted out there on the table.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
Yes, because that would be everybody's wish.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
It relates back to fishing.
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
It's okay.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
But I would love.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Is it because he's the co-host?
No, not at all.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
No not at all.
This is my wish forever.
Okay okay, I would wish thatevery child who goes fishing
would catch at least one fishevery time they go fishing.
Not every time they cast,because it's called fishing for
a reason.
But if you want to see somekids who've had a rough go at
life just be through the moonexcited, you'll put a fish on
(42:44):
the hook for them and you'llwatch them reel it in.
Put a fish on the hook for themand you'll watch them reel it
in.
You'll see them gaze at thisfish as you take it off the hook
and just the the.
There's not a clearer exampleof a sense of accomplishment
than when these kids reel in afish so I would love for every
kid.
I think that's one of thesweetest things I've heard on
(43:06):
this podcast.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Absolutely oh thanks.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Of all the ones that I've recorded.
That was really, really sweet,thank you, but it is true, if I
had the wand, I would do it foryou, rick.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
I honestly would.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Thanks, I got her wish now too, yes.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
That's exactly right.
I'll give you my wish.
And then what about a famouscelebrity?
If you could pick any famouscelebrity to support the cause,
who would you pick, and why?
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Sorry, I had to ask the boys about this because I
don't really stay in touch withcelebrity news.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I'm sure you've got a slew of suggestions.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
All superheroes.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I was getting ready to say they have a superhero,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
So Spider-Man is a top choice, iron man was another
one, and then Batman cominginto third place.
What Really?
So yeah, if we could get any ofthose three.
No, obviously they're fictionalcharacters, but if they were
real, bruce Wayne would begetting a phone call every week.
Oh, that's hysterical.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
You know so when we do the fishing tournament.
Oh, that's hysterical.
You know we have to, so when wedo the fishing tournament we're
going to have costumecharacters as Spider-Man and
Batman and Iron man.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
We're going to have them all make an appearance.
Love it, put that on the listtoo.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yeah, now we're committed On my event planning
Podcast forever.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
That's right, my event planning.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
But how much fun, I mean, that would be so much fun
for the boys absolutely that'shysterical.
I absolutely love it.
Um, and I've got one more foryou personally.
And then, um, what about amovie?
If there's a movie made aboutwhat you do, who would play you?
Speaker 1 (44:42):
okay, so it would have to exist in the sesame
street universe.
The title would probably besomething like I'll Walk Down
the Farm Road, because Wynwoodis located on Wynwood Farm Road,
and I would probably be playedby Glover Grover.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Grover.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I thought it was Glover Grover.
Well, Mike, please edit thatout.
That one will definitely stayin.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
No, that's really cool, though I like Grover
Grover's awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
He's great.
He's one of my favoritecharacters on Sesame Street.
He's amazing.
Yes, I mean you want to talkabout the spectrum of acting
ability.
We're talking about Grover,grover, grover.
See, now I'm all messed, I'mall turned around that would be
(45:33):
great.
I'm down for that too, as longas I get to keep it at the end
and put it in my office.
That would be funny.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
Well, yeah, let's start making some phone calls to
some movie studios.
Right, we could do that, that'sright, that'd be pretty awesome
.
Mike, do you have anything elsefor Rick before I tie things up
here?
Speaker 3 (45:56):
So you know the friend-raising aspect you
mentioned, you know meeting withpotential donors, just people
to network with.
I mean, when we first met tonetwork, we had breakfast and
just breakfast and coffee.
But I mean what, what wouldyour ideal um week look like
with networking with folks?
Just to get the word out on apersonal, intimate level
(46:20):
probably what we did.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Okay, I think.
Now don't get me wrong, I lovenetworking events.
It's fun.
I've met some great colleaguesthere.
I've made good friends thereand I go to them often.
I was just a few months ago atthe veteran small business um
breakfast, slash coffee on theuss, yorktown and that was great
(46:42):
.
Got to interact with my tribeof veterans but also talk about
winwood, right.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
But I think initially relationships are formed best
and conversation happens bestwhen you're just sitting around
drinking coffee, right so ifyou're listening to this, please
reach out to rick and buy him acup of coffee and have a good
conversation I'll buy you a cupof coffee because I'll invite
(47:09):
you in.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
I'm a southern gentleman from Texas, so if I
invite you somewhere I'm paying.
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
Well, I agree with you.
I think that there's alldifferent ways to network.
I actually have someone I knowwho recently joined the chamber
and claims that she's shy, right, and I said, well, that's fine,
why don't you come and I'll bethere?
And so I've introduced her andthen I've left her, and then I
get a phone call.
(47:36):
You know, thank you, thank you,thank you.
So, and she's also attendedsome of the smaller events and
some of the bigger events.
So, you know, networking isextremely important, but you
have to be as far it works bestwhen you're in the situation
that is more comfortable for you, right, right, because if you
are afraid, to be not afraid, Ishouldn't say that.
(47:57):
If you are not comfortable in alarge group of strangers, you
know you don't want to go, justgo.
You're not going to walk.
Go there and start tapping onpeople's back and introducing
yourself, Right?
So I just go.
You're not going to walk.
Go there and start tapping onpeople's back and introducing
yourself right um, so um.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
I think it's important to learn the best way
for you to network.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Um so rick is going to buy you coffee.
That's his best way ofnetworking.
That's right, which is awesomeyou're not getting out of coming
to chamber events no,absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
Okay, chamber events are so fun.
Definitely go.
Go to the business expo.
If you don't go to the Expo, nofree ads.
But if you don't go to the Expo, you're missing out.
Speaker 2 (48:33):
I agree 100% on that's right, that was a great.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
Our Expos are pretty amazing yes, they are pretty,
they are absolutely amazing yep,and that same friend I just
talked about.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
I got a booth that was she had just joined last
year and got in a booth and shecould not stop talking about how
many connections she made.
Oh yeah, and how she kind ofcame out of her shell at that
particular event because shefelt so comfortable there.
Speaker 3 (48:56):
And it's free to attend.
It's free.
It's free, yes, to attend, yes.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
All right.
So, looking ahead at youramazing organization, your hopes
for the future, obviously againto continue the great work and
stuff, but these families thatyou serve and these boys that
you serve, I mean it must meanthe world to you to be able to
do that every day to help thesefamilies.
What are your hopes for thefuture?
Speaker 1 (49:23):
So you are right.
It's incredibly motivating tobe a part of something that is
so much bigger than myself andserving needs that I care deeply
about.
My hope for the future,honestly, is just seeing an
organization that is servingmore families in our community.
(49:44):
So expanding our services Isthat a possibility ever?
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I'm assuming there's a limit onthe number for a reason.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
so expanding our, our services, is that a possibility
ever?
Speaker 2 (49:49):
or oh yeah, absolutely, I'm assuming there's
a limit on the number for areason so, within our community
program, we can expand services.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
We can also expand our services on campus, but
there are some statutoryregulations that limit how many
kids can be on there.
Right, um, but I see a futurewhere where we are capping out
the number of children that wecan serve.
I see a future where thechildren that we serve are
leaving the farm happier andhealthier than they ever have
(50:23):
been.
I see a future where familiesin our communities are stronger.
I see them strengthened becauseof the services that they've
received from Wynwood andorganizations like us, but also
an opportunity where the needthat is currently existing in
our community and state andthroughout the nation starts to
(50:46):
be addressed.
The nation starts to beaddressed not just because
organizations like us exist, butbecause families are doing the
hard work of getting healthier,getting stronger and and just
really living into what a familyis all right.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
So for all again, everyone who's listening today,
whether it's for yourself or foryour business.
You're going to email Rick, sosay your email again.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Yeah, it is rick R-I-C-K dot L-O-T-T-A-N at
winwoodfarmorg.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
So we're going to email Rick to set up coffee, to
discuss fundraising, to discusssponsorship, to discuss
volunteerism, to discuss whatyou can do today to help this
amazing, amazing organizationthat is the heart of our
community.
Rick, I cannot thank you enoughfor talking about this
(51:45):
incredible place with us today.
Your time and everything thatyou've done for these boys is
duly noted and very respectful.
So I am.
I've learned a lot and I reallyneed to get out there, I'll
host you on a farm tour if youwant.
Well, I'm gonna email you later,and I'm gonna, we're gonna have
coffee.
Please do For sure.
Would love to have you.
(52:05):
That's awesome.
Thank you so much, and Michael.
Michael, thank you so much forbeing in my cohort as usual,
glad to be here.
Again.
Everybody, get to their website, get out there, help the
community.
Before we leave, we also needto thank our sponsors again
Charleston Radio Group Studiosand, of course, the Mount
Pleasant Chamber of Commerce.
If you are interested insponsoring or being a guest on
(52:26):
our show, in sponsoring or beinga guest on our show, you can
just reach out to anybody in thechamber and we'll get back to
you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels.
We are on Spotify, itunes,YouTube, instagram, facebook and
LinkedIn.
So again, thank you for beingwith us today.
Until next time, mount Pleasant, until next time listeners.
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