By Bob Braddy
After arriving last Saturday from Methodist churches located all over our state, 75 campers and staff of The Salkehatchie Harvest Camp settled into their quarters at the new Dillon Middle School for a week of intense work repairing and renovating seven homes of underprivileged families stretching from Dillon to Latta, Nichols, Minturn, Hamer and Sellers.
Perhaps they should be called “angels” for their generous, unselfish work through the intense heat and humidity after paying $215 each and giving a week of their time doing difficult, sometimes risky work for homeowners they probably will never see again.
This year marks the seventh year that Salkehatchie campers have come to Dillon. Meals for the campers are prepared by the Methodist churches in the county. This year those contributing include Latta, Lake View, Manning Chapel, Oakland Methodist, McCoy’s Chapel in Little Rock, Bowling Green, St. Stephens UMC, Trinity UMC in Clio and Mt. Holly. Main Street United Methodist Church in Dillon is the host church.
Salkekatchie was founded in 1978 when Reverend John Wesley Culp envisioned the need after responding to a call as a volunteer fireman in Hampton, where he served as a fireman and the departments’ chaplain. He saw that faulty wiring had caused the fire, which led to the death of three young children. He became aware that with just a little know-how and minor materials the house could have been made safe and the family would still be together. The rest is history.
“We want to thank all of the volunteers who participated in this year’s Harvest Camp for their contributions to its success” said Mary Bailey, project chairperson. “The homes chosen for repair will be greatly improved by the work done, but without the contributions of cash and supplies from church members, city and county governments and others, these homes would not have received this help.”
