Race for the Cure, Barefoot on the Green, and Operation Home
After a brief fall break, I jumped back into the local charity scene with both feet—literally. On Saturday morning, I joined thousands of other walkers and runners on Daniel Island for the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Many race participants were clad in breast cancer awareness’ signature shade of pink and wearing paper placards adorned with the names of women who’ve battled the disease (I participated in honor of Charilla Barham and Linda Renken). Prior to the race, survivors traditionally gather onstage for a moving musical celebration, and this year was no exception. Scores of women waved pink carnations while Melissa Etheridge’s I Run for Life serenaded the survivors with lyrics like “I run for hope; I run to feel; I run for the truth, for all that is real; I run for your mother, your sister, your wife; I run for you and me, my friend; I run for life.”
As I was walking through the crowd, one young girl’s broad smile and cheerful demeanor grabbed my attention, so I stopped and asked permission to snap a photo. I didn’t notice that one of the women standing with her was suffering from the effects of treatment until I glanced through the viewfinder. Emotions run high at events like the Komen Race as people are reminded of their own battle with an illness or a loved one’s bouts with cancer, so I’m always mindful of who I approach for a photo. After I’d gathered their names and walked around for awhile, the girl with the great smile tapped me on the shoulder. Lindsay Joyner explained that her mother has been battling cancer since Lindsay was in eighth grade (approximately 11 years), and she thanked me for taking their photo.
To Lindsay: thank you for sharing your story and for making my morning an especially memorable one. Your mother is one incredibly courageous woman!
On Saturday night, I made my way out to Middleton Place for the Charleston Garden Festival’s Barefoot in the Garden party. Held in the plantation’s stableyard, the event was a of mixture of patrons of all ages. Last year, the festival hosted two parties, each geared toward a different age group, but this year’s conglomeration was great fun— I met all types of people and quickly learned that a green thumb is not a requirement to be a Garden Festival supporter (disclosure: the extent of my horticultural prowess is watering a pair of parapet plant boxes and there were plenty of other guests who also don’t tend a garden).
Strands of twinkling lights illuminated the frame of a tent that had been covered in greenery rather than the tent’s canvas. A large glowing orb (designed to imitate a harvest moon) floated above party-goers heads and the sudden dip in temperature made it truly feel like fall. A handful of restaurants prepared single plate servings of savory hors d’oeuvres that included duck, ribs, and shrimp. A shuttle ran between downtown and the plantation for attendees who did not wish to navigate the dark Highway 61 corridor after a few cocktails, which was a thoughtful touch.
I wound down the weekend at Red Drum GastroPub for an event benefitting Operation Home, a grassroots nonprofit that makes emergency home repairs for people living in the Lowcountry. The valets were working in overdrive as guests packed the restaurant in what Operation Home co-founder Emily Abedon called an “overwhelming response.”
Tables laden with silent auction goods lined one room of the restaurant while an assortment of food filled the main dining room. Guests spilled out onto the patio where I spotted a bunch of friendly faces congregated around the fireplace including Darci Grady, Jody Davenport, and LuAnn McCants. Midway through the evening, Doug Warner—one of Charleston’s stealth heroes (he donates his time as auctioneer to dozens of outstanding local causes… and he’s a great auctioneer!), whipped the crowd into a bidding frenzy, while platters of intriguingly named desserts, like the almond financiers with caramel whipped cream, gave bidders the sugar jolt needed to keep the live auction rolling along.
I’ll see you this weekend at the Fur Ball!
Best,
Ida
