How Impact readers can make an impact

Time is weird. Space is saved in my brain to simultaneously find it incredible 2024 has flown by so fast and incredulous it has taken so long to come to pass.

I try to take the end of any year to look back and see what we've done right at The Sumter Item and how we can improve in the coming year to disseminate local news and information in a medium, platform and general manner that benefits you the most.

That's the exact reason we started this whole Item Impact thing in the first place. I can't believe we've already done 10 editions of this monthly newspaper. That means we've mailed out 280,000 of them complimentary to households and businesses throughout Sumter. And my brain simultaneously can't believe it hasn't even been a year. We work to bring you this paper every month and put so much thought into it that it feels so natural now.

However, if you read Impact but don't read our flagship, twice-weekly Item newspaper, you might be missing out on a chance to give back to our community. I realized we haven't mentioned it in Impact when I saw that one of the most-read stories of 2024 online was about the passing of two longtime business owners, Billy McLeod of Piggly Wiggly and Carl Simpson III of Simpson Hardware Co. They are both the namesakes for this year's Fireside Fund campaign. Each winter since 1969, The Sumter Item has run a fundraiser to collect money from its readers to be donated entirely to Sumter United Ministries. The faith-based nonprofit provides emergency and life-rebuilding services ranging from food, shelter and clothing to final-notice bill pay, access to educational opportunities and a medical clinic.

The Sumter Item recognizes and appreciates every ministry their staff and volunteers run, but the Fireside Fund was created to focus on one area that becomes critical for the next few months: heat.

Every penny donated will directly help people who live in Sumter by preventing heating services from being turned off, allowing access to propane or other heating sources and, when enough funding is available and the need is there, funding long-term housing fixes to make homes more efficient.

So far this year, our readers have donated $8,134. We've collected $1.8 million since 1969.

If you are able and want to donate to the Fireside Fund, you can mail a check to us at P.O. Box 1677, Sumter, SC 29151, or you can drop off donations at our office, 36 W. Liberty St. You can make a donation in someone's honor, and we print each name and new donation in honor of on Wednesdays. Checks should be made out to Sumter United Ministries.

Anyone in need of assistance with heating or heating utility costs can call SUM at (803) 775-0757.