McLeod Health Foundation receives $69K Honda USA Foundation grant

The McLeod Health Foundation recently received a $69,240 grant from the Honda USA Foundation for the Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal initiative "McLeod Keeping Kids Safe on the Move."

The grant will enable Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal led by McLeod Health, a chapter of Safe Kids Worldwide, to further its mission of reducing preventable injuries to children from the Midlands to the coast. It will also allow the organization to emphasize the importance of improving safety on South Carolina's roads and waterways.

"Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal has focused on the safety of our region's children for more than 25 years. Literally, generations of children have been given a better chance to grow up and thrive thanks to Safe Kids," said Angie Dillon, Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal coordinator. "We are able to provide these valuable services because of generous donors like the Honda USA Foundation."

Building on the success of a previous grant from the Honda USA Foundation, the new grant will help provide a two-pronged strategy to make children in the region safer.

Because of the region's rural population and residents who are living below the poverty level, direct material assistance will continue, including distribution of free car seats and bicycle/skateboard/ATV helmets to underserved families.

This year's grant will also create a new 500-unit youth lifejacket station in Surfside Beach in partnership with Fire/EMS. Boaters can acquire a safety pamphlet and check out/return lifejackets at no cost at a popular boat landing, reducing the chance of accidental drowning.

The second important part of the strategy is education of community members, which will occur in three areas:

- Providing public safety events such as car seat checks and boating safety events, where residents can not only learn safe practices, but also receive free safety equipment and have car seats installed by certified technicians.

- Training of certified safety technicians for a community that lacks them. These will not only include car seat safety technicians, which were the focus of the previous grant, but will also include certified lifeguards.

- Recertification of existing technicians and training of certified safety instructors to compound the accessibility of competent safety officials. Through this effort, the increase in the ranks of certified safety experts available to the region will be perpetuated.

The Honda USA Foundation said, "The Honda USA Foundation gives back to the communities where our associates live and work through grant awards. The Honda USA Foundation supports organizations and programs that align with our pillar award categories of education, environment, mobility and traffic safety."

"The McLeod Health Foundation and Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal led by McLeod Health are grateful for Honda USA Foundation's continued support and partnership which invests in the safety of our region's greatest asset, our children," said Elizabeth Jones, executive director of McLeod Health Foundation.