Community Service Overview
The Hilton Head Island Computer Club
(HHICC) Community Service Project is designed to give computer assistance to
local not-for-profit organizations who cannot afford to hire such assistance.
When we solicited local agencies, we
found that many lacked website knowledge, mass e-mailing expertise or general
computer background and needed help. We analyzed
each applicant’s specific needs and sought out appropriate HHICC members
willing to share their knowledge. This project has contributed to the
effectiveness and success of at least 44 organizations so far.
Here are some examples: We have
installed networked computers for the Boys and Girls Club, helped several
agencies understand database issues and built websites for the Main Street
Youth Theatre, Jazz Lovers of the Lowcountry and the Lifelong Learning
Institute, to name just a few. We created mass E-mailing lists and techniques
for the local chapter of American Association of University Women (AAUW),
Hilton Head Humane Association and the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. These
HHICC contributions have enabled all of these community agencies to learn and
grow and take on new and more meaningful activities.
To reach out to the community, we
publicized the project in several ways. In our monthly newsletter we introduced
the project to HHICC members. They were encouraged to suggest not-for-profit
agencies that might need our assistance.
A letter introducing the project was sent
directly to about 20 such organizations.
The club then made contact with the local newspaper, The Island Packet,
and Hilton Head Monthly magazine. Subsequently, The Island Packet ran a front
page article entitled “Island Computer Club Aids Other Non-profits, Byte by
Byte.”
An article in Hilton Head Monthly
not only told about the club in general but also reinforced our goal to provide
computer-related services to other not-for-profit groups.
In January 2006, a women’s
philanthropy group sponsored “Connections: Community Services Showcase” where
34 local not-for-profit agencies set up individual booths to offer their
services to the needy in the community. HHICC’s Community Services Director along
with several club members took this opportunity to visit each booth with an
offer to help with the computer needs of the not-for-profit organization.
Each organization is invited to
visit our website and download a “Not-for-profit Request for Assistance”
application which it fills out and sends to us, along with proof of eligibility
as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code. HHICC’s Community Services Director
receives the request and finds a willing club member with the necessary skills
to help. That member’s e-mail address is given to the agency so that it may
present its request directly to him or her.
A list of requests with all the
contact and request information is reviewed for progress at each HHICC Board
meeting. One especially rewarding
project was for our local Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) clinic, where retired
doctors, dentists and nurses volunteer to treat the medically underserved in
the community. Several HHICC members worked with the founders of VIM to
establish a Volunteers in Medicine Institute and to write how-to manuals for
setting up such clinics in other communities. The manuals were burned into
computer discs for easy distribution. So far 40 communities across the country
have used these manuals in setting up their own volunteer medical clinics.
Below is a list of some of the local
not-for-profits that have been served by HHICC.
Alzheimer's Respite
American Assn of Univ Women
American Red Cross
Art Center of Low Country
Bluffton Self Help
Boys and Girls Club
Coastal Discovery Museum
Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse CODA
Deep Well Project
Democratic Club South of the Broad
Heritage Library Foundation
Heros on Horseback
HH Audubon Society
HH Choral Society
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HH Elementary School
HH Humane Assn
HH Rotary
HH Sail & Power Squadron
HHHS Strive for Excellence
Hilton Head Library
Island School Council for the Arts
Jazz Lovers of the Lowcountry
Lifelong Learning of HH
Lions Noon Club
Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry
Low Country Grady White Club
Low Country Volley Ball
Lowcountry Community Dev Corp
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Main St Youth Theatre
Mental Health Assn
National Federation of the Blind of SC
Palmetto Quilt Guild
Programs for Exceptional People (PEP)
Pregnancy Center & Clinic of the Lowcountry
Presbyterian Men of the Church
Second Helpings
Spay & Neuter Alliance & Clinic
St Francis by the Sea Catholic Church
Tennis Assn of Hilton Head
United Way
Volunteers in Medicine
World Affairs Council
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