[JAMES ISLAND] – Guests to this year’s Holiday Festival of Lights will have the opportunity to help support a worthy cause, the Pass It Forward Project. Last year, the project, which is managed by The Parklands Foundation, helped over 100 organizations raise money for their cause through the donation of Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) park passes.
Guests to this year’s Holiday Festival of Lights can make voluntary, in-person donations to CCPRC’s non-profit partner, The Parklands Foundation, and its Pass It Forward Project. Organizations such as the American Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston, Roper St. Francis Hospital, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center are just a few groups that the project helped through pass donations in the past year.
The Pass It Forward Project is an initiative to identify members of the community who encounter barriers accessing park facilities, programs and services. The foundation then facilitates, encourages and promotes the giving of donations and goods, and passes on those resources to members of the community in need. Pass It Forward is one of two foundation projects adopted in 2015. In addition to helping nonprofit organizations in the area raise money for their cause, the Pass It Forward Project worked to coordinate the Skate Forward program, which provided over 150 City of Charleston and North Charleston summer campers a free day at the SK8 Charleston skate park.
“The Pass It Forward Project gives us an opportunity to help not only individuals gain access to our wonderful park system, but also to support the worthy causes promoted by local nonprofit organizations.” said the Parklands Foundation Executive Director Tom O’Rourke, “We are so glad to be in a position to do it and hope the community will come out to the Holiday Festival of Lights to support us.”
Guests to the Holiday Festival of Lights will have the opportunity to help support the Pass It Forward Project at gift shops and the wishing well at the park’s sand sculpture exhibit. The Parklands Foundation will also host a benefit event, Supper with Santa, on opening night on Nov. 10 at the Holiday Festival of Lights. For more information on Supper with Santa, visit TheParklandsFoundation.org. The Holiday Festival of Lights is open nightly at James Island County Park from Nov. 10 through Jan. 1. For more information on the Holiday Festival of Lights, visit HolidayFestivalofLights.com.
The vision of The Parklands Foundation of Charleston County is to identify, develop and sustain projects that actively encourage people to experience CCPRC’s facilities, programs and services for the benefit of living a healthier and safer lifestyle. For more information on The Parklands Foundation, and to support The Pass It Forward Project, visit TheParklandsFoundation.org or call 843-640-5451.
