Help 4 Kids is a volunteer organization which started in 1989 and is dedicated to helping the under privileged children of Horry County feel good about themselves by providing new shoes, book bags, school supplies, and food.
As many of you know, the Coastal Organization of Human Resources has taken this local charity under our wing as our main charity of focus. What you may not know is who your donations and fundraising is actually helping. In 1989 after Hurricane Hugo, three women set out to do volunteer work to help out with the recovery efforts in the area. When they headed out into the back areas of the county, what they found was gut-wrenching. Children living in homes with dirt floors, no running water, little to no food, and shoes and clothes covered in holes. They took immediate action and started doing what they could to provide food and shelter.
They witnessed children drop out of school because they were ashamed to be with the other kids because of the way they looked and the lack of food and school supplies they had. The ladies immediately realized how important the need to make these children feel accepted and normal was, and it became the focus on what is the Help 4 Kids organization that we know today.
Help 4 Kids spends a grueling amount of hours trying to keep these kids in school by making sure they do not go hungry, have clothes to wear, and school supplies to use. They have even developed a program called Back Pack Buddies which involves weekly volunteers packing over 1500 snack packs that are given to these children on Fridays to take home so they have something to eat over the weekend.