“What must be done eventually, should be done immediately” – anon.
Over the past several months, West Ashley resident Skyla Campbell has spent countless hours collecting and shipping school and art supplies, toys, shirts and shoes for more than 12 non-profit organizations around the world. She’s reached out to local as well as national companies for donations and is spearheading two upcoming fundraisers to raise additional funds for shipping costs and necessary supplies requested by organizations as far away as Ethiopia and Cambodia.
She’d probably do more, but she’s still not old enough to apply for her driver’s permit.
Fourteen-year-old Campbell is a home school student and member of the Charleston Change 4-H Club, the organization that inspired her to start looking for ways to help needy children in other countries.
“It started when I began talking with a former Four-H’er. She was telling me about this school in Rwanda and all the supplies they need, so I talked with a local shirt company to see if they had any misprints they could donate,” says Campbell.
The company, Charleston Cotton Exchange, was happy to donate to the cause and with such a great initial success, Campbell decided to expand the operation.
“I started talking with other companies about what they could donate and I began to find other organizations that needed donations. My aunt works with a group in Honduras that provides housing and education to orphans, so we started partnering with them, and then other people began telling us about other organizations we could help and it just grew from there,” says Campbell.
Campbell is currently collecting school supplies and clothing for organizations including Change A Life Uganda, Vive Peru, The El Salvador Project, World Joy in Ghana, Esperanza de Honduras, Sustainable Cambodia, The Mali Fund, Shepherd’s Field Orphanage and Ethiopia Reads, as well as individual schools in Rwanda and Namibia that don’t fall under a particular organization.
And her list of donors is growing by the day. Along with Charleston Cotton Exchange, she’s received a number of needed goods from Artist and Craftsman, Kassis Bros. Shoes, Charleston Battery Soccer Team, Peace Frogs, Chick-Fil-A, UberPrints.com, Design a Shirt, Citadel Soccer Team, Palmetto Moon, and WonderWorks. Other 4-H members have also contributed and a group of Pier One employees from the Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and West Ashley stores surprised her with donations of sock monkeys.
“What we’ve been doing is getting items from small businesses and companies, as well as some corporations, and then packing them and sending them. We have packing parties, but sometimes it’s just me and my mom,” says Campbell.
In fact, all of the funds raised during their most recent fundraiser, a bake sale at the Mount Pleasant Farmers’ Market, went toward shipping costs. It’s because of these expenses that Campbell has been searching for ways to raise additional funds as well as collect more items to send to the schools.
And thanks to the Mount Pleasant Barnes and Noble, she’ll hopefully be able to raise enough money to fund several more shipments of desperately needed supplies. But she needs just a little help from the community.
“We’re going to be at the Mount Pleasant Barnes and Noble on Saturday, November 23, handing out brochures about our organization and fundraising efforts. We’re hoping that some shoppers will buy a book and donate it to the Four-H fundraiser at the front desk but no matter what, ten percent of all sales that day will go toward our organization,” says Campbell.
If you aren’t able to make it out to Barnes and Noble on the 23rd, however, the Mount Pleasant store will be accepting donations through the 29th both in the store and online. To donate online, simply click “yes” when asked if any of the items in the cart are for a book fair and enter code “11224888.”
And if books aren’t your bag, Campbell has also connected with New York-based t-shirt company Out of Print Clothing (OutofPrintClothing.com), which will be sponsoring a fundraiser from November 16 – 30. During that time period, shoppers who enter code CC4H at checkout will automatically have 30 percent of their purchase proceeds sent to Charleston Change 4-H, as well as receive free shipping on their item.
“I really just want to see this project grow more. I want to help as many people as possible. We’re already helping thousands of people and I want this to continue,” says Campbell.
For more information on the fundraiser and Charleston Change 4-H, visit www.CC4H.net or email CharlestonChange@cc4h.net. The organization is always looking for additional volunteers!
