The One Grant

Since the Foundation’s inception in 1996, there have been over 1,300 grant awards made to hundreds of organizations across South Carolina. Actually, the Foundation has awarded grants in every single county in the state. There have been very large grants and very small grants. Some have served large populations and some have served a small group of people. Several have been very strategic and systemic and others have been to deal with consequences and meeting basic needs of those living in poverty.

I have often been asked which grant made the biggest impact on me personally. That is a difficult question because so many good people are doing tremendous work and I value the hundreds and hundreds of nonprofit organizations and their people who serve others. It is one of the most rewarding parts of our Foundation ministry to me.

But back to the question about one grant. Well, yes there is one grant and grantee that changed my life in an instant. It came unexpectedly and it came quickly.

Back in the late 1990’s, I had a call from the mayor of Ravenel, South Carolina. Ravenel is a small town about 15 miles south of Charleston on Highway 17, also known as Savannah Highway. There is not much to see in Ravenel and most people see it by passing through it on their way to Charleston. The mayor told me about a lady named Claudia Bing who ran a small nonprofit called Caregivers for Individuals with Disabilities and she thought I should visit Ms. Bing to learn more about her work.

I had to be in Charleston the next week so I made arrangements to travel to Ravenel. I did not know what to expect and I wondered if this was going to be a worthwhile trip. The directions I was given was to go to Ravenel and look for the fireworks store in the middle of town on Highway 17, then drive behind the fireworks store to a double-wide mobile home. That is where I would find Ms. Bing. I followed the directions and sure enough I found the location.

It was a modest standard double-wide. As I parked and walked up to the house, I noticed a wheelchair ramp and a van with a lift. I also saw a couple of oxygen tanks on the wooden porch at the entrance. I knocked on the door and Ms. Bing greeted me.

Ms. Bing is a soft spoken older African-American lady and she welcomed me into her home. The first thing I saw was a younger white female in a wheelchair. I then saw another young man also in a wheelchair who was severely handicapped. There was another young adult in a hospital bed and he was very ill. I did not know what to think. I asked Ms. Bing, “What do you do here and what is your ministry?”

Ms. Bing replied, “I care for dying children. These are children that nobody else wants because they have terminal illnesses and have fallen through the foster care system, orphanages, etc. They have no family that wants them.”

I was speechless. Ms. Bing then took me by the hand and led me to her living room where there was a large framed picture collage. It had about 30 pictures in it. She said, “These are my children that I cared for that have passed on.” She began to name them one by one. “This was Cynthia; she was with me for 14 months and died of leukemia. This is Jason; he was with me for three years and died of brain cancer. This was Lawrence; he was with me for two years and died of cystic fibrosis.” She went through each picture one by one and told me their story.

I was beyond overwhelmed by this point. I asked Ms. Bing, “Why do you do this? Isn’t the pain of dealing with a child who is terminally ill a terrible thing and here you are by yourself carrying this heavy load? Tell me why?”

I will never forget her words. Ms. Bing looked me straight in the eye and said, “This is not hard at all. This is my calling. God has given me a gift and I am using it to my full ability. I don’t have a lot of money or material things but I do have a lot of love and I give it each and every day.” She went on to say, “my mission is to love these children and make them feel loved and when it is their time to pass, I will hand each one of them off to God and they will have been loved, valued, blessed and cared for. That is what I do.”

I left Claudia Bing’s home that day a different person. She had just taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life in a single hour. It was real clear and real simple to me. Claudia Bing was one of the richest people I had ever met and for all the right reasons. She received a grant from the Foundation and that is the one grant that changed my life the most.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.