Source- WPDE

UPDATED

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Below is a list of fundraisers and ways to donate to the victims of the Windsor Green condo fire:

**Coastal Orthopedics is matching donations dollar-for-dollar for Windsor Green fire relief captured online here or at the practice’s Conway location, 2376 Cypress Circle, Suite 300. For more information on how you can help the victims of the Windsor Green apartment fire at Carolina Forest, please call Coastal Orthopedics at (843) 347-7222.

**All people wishing to donate food can do so at Helping Hand of Myrtle Beach at 1411 Mr. Joe White Ave. Their number is (843) 448-8451.

**All clothing, bedding and furniture can be donated to the Carolina Forest Goodwill at 2164 Oak Heart Road.

**All monetary donations can be made to the United Way of Horry County at 761 Century Circle, Conway. Their number is (843) 347-5195.

The Red Cross is set up to take monetary donations only. You can donate at www.redcross.org, by calling 843-477-0020, or via mail at 3531 Pampas Drive, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577.

Benchmark Management is accepting monetary donations and clothes. Checks need to be made out to the American Red Cross: Disaster Relief. Donations will be delivered to the Red Cross so they can be dispersed to the fire victims. Cash donations need to be delivered to the American Red Cross at 3531 Pampas Drive in Myrtle Beach. Benchmark Management locations are:

North Myrtle Beach 414 Main Street North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

South End Office 11943 Grand Haven Drive, Suite C Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

North Carolina Office 1780-1 Chandlers Lane Sunset Beach, NC 28468

Carolina Care Medical Supply, LLC is accepting donations from anyone in the Conway – Aynor area. They will collect items and deliver them to wherever they need to go. They are also accepting monetary donations that will be given to Conway National Bank for deposit into their fund.

Verizon Wireless and Goodwill are collecting non-perishable food items, personal hygiene supplies and clothing (unused undergarments, including socks, underwear and bras are especially needed) at the Verizon store at 551 Seaboard Street. In addition to serving as a collection point, Verizon will have a charging station available to allow the fire victims to charge their phones, use the Internet or make phone calls.

The “X” Sports Complex on George Bishop Parkway across from Beach Church is collecting personal hygiene items, clothing, furniture, etc.

Fingertips Nail Salon on 3rd Ave in Conway is accepting clothes and personal hygiene items to be delivered.

Boston Pizza in Carolina Forest is accepting donations at 2005 Oak Heart Road. They are organized to accept clothing and supplies.

If you or someone you know has lost their glasses in the fire, Carolina Forest Family Eyecare will replace their glasses for FREE. Dr. Weshefsky will donate his time for an examination if needed or honor a current eyeglass prescription. The frame and single vision lenses are FREE. Proof of residency is required. Please call the office for more details. 843-903-6262

LENSCRAFTERS will be working with those affected by the fire to replace eyeglasses through its charitable organization, ONE SIGHT. Please contact Vicki Greene, Lenscrafters Coastal Grand Mall, at 843-444-0070 for details.

Fostering Hope in Conway has items for children, teenagers, and young adults, including school supplies, hygiene items, clothing and more. The office in Conway at 319 Kingston Street in Conway will be open all week for anyone who needs help. They will also deliver needed items to the shelter at Beach Church. Call 843-254-8168 for more information.

Donations of any kind can be dropped off at Weichert Realtors Southern Coast in the Kroger shopping center in Carolina Forest starting Monday morning.

Donations of any kind can be dropped off at Jersey Bagels and Subs at 4006 Postal Way, Unit D in Myrtle Beach.

Buffalo Wild Wings of Carolina Forest will donate 10% of food sales from Monday 3/18 – Friday 3/22 to help the victims of the fires. The restaurant already donated $1,000 in gift cards to displaced victims of the fires to come in and eat.

River Landing Apartment Homes is offering discounts to the victims of the fire. They offer 3 to 13 month lease terms and have homes ready for those in need. 843-903-3434 or www.riverlanding-apts.com.

Carolina American Pickers thrift store at 1360 Hwy 501 will be offering free clothing, and discounts for household items. Here’s a link to their site.

Tommy at Coastline Pet Supply will help pet needs. Call the store at 843-293-8199.

Sonesta ES Suites is offering a discount off their already discounted weekly and monthly rates to any victim of the Windsor Green Fires and will waive the pet fees. The Sonesta ES Suites Myrtle Beach located next to Medieval Times off HWY 501.

Myrtle Beach Best Buy is offering employee discounts to victims to help them replace lost possessions. Anyone impacted will need to bring an ID that shows their place of residence and Best Buy will apply its employee discount to their purchase through the end of March.

Students who need school supplies,clothes, books etc should contact Caroline Chestnut with Horry County Schools at 843-488-6768.

VCA Palmetto Animal Hospital has free boarding for pets belonging to people displaced by the fire. Call 843-903-1900 for more information.

First Federal opened the Windsor Green Fire Relief Fund today with $2,500 to support ongoing American Red Cross efforts. The public may make a contribution by visiting any local First Federal Financial Center, including the 7-day-a-week centers located in select Wal-Mart locations.

Seaboard Bedding and Furniture Mattress Fundraiser – Every 2,000 Facebook “likes” the Seaboard Bedding and Furniture facebook page gets, the company will donate a queen mattress set. Click here for more information.

Fundraiser at Handleys in Carolina Forest on Sunday, March 24th for the CF victims of the Windsor green Fire. There will be a bunch of live music and burpee challenge. $20 a head to participate. The winner gets a free month membership at a cross-fit gym of choice.

US Lawns of Myrtle Beach is helping out all of the victims of the Carolina Forest fire over the weekend by hosting a bowling event with Frank Theaters CineBowl and Grille in Murrells Inlet, SC on Tuesday March 26th at 6PM. One of their managers lost everything in this unfortunate event and many employees have a close relationship with someone else who was effected by this fire. The event will run from 6 p.m. until about 8 p.m. with a cost of $20 per person which will include 2 Beers, 2 Games and shoe rental. There will also have silent auction with items donated from local businesses and various raffles. All profits from the event will go directly to helping out all of the victims from this fire. If you are interested in participating please call the office at 843.650.8875 during normal business hours to sign up. Also, if you are interested in giving a direct donation or donating items to the silent auction please call 843.650.8875.

Coccadotts Cake Shop in Myrtle Beach will donate 50 percent of all sales this Sunday (March 24) to Windsor Green fire victims. They will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Victims can go to www.windsorgreenfirevictims.com for information on insurance, resident info, donations, etc.

Girl Scout Troop 61 will be holding a car wash Saturday, March 23rd from 10am until 2pm at the Horry County Bank across from Carolina Forest Elementary School. All cash donations will go to the victims of the Windsor Green Fire. Please come out and help your neighbors.

***VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP WITH DONATIONS AT THE X SPORTS COMPLEX ACROSS FROM BEACH CHURCH***

The Well by the Sea Church is inviting all residents and victims of Windsor Green to a free dinner Wednesday the 27th at 6pm. They are located at 211 Forestbrook Rd. Call 236-8852 for more info or directions

7^th grade students at Green Sea Floyds Middle/High School are beginning a donation drive for goods for the victims of the fire.

Mercy Care Collecting Donations for Windsor Green Survivors

The Horry County Sheriff’s Office, Horry County Fire Rescue, and the Horry County Firefighters Relief Fund is teaming up with the Sheriff’s Foundation of Horry County to help the public safety workers who lost everything in the fire. The Sheriff’s Foundation has established a Public Safety relief fund and the funds will be distributed as needed. You can send checks to: Sheriff’s Foundation of Horry County; P.O. Box 1906, Conway, SC 29528.

Red Cross

3531 Pampas Drive

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577

(843)-477-0020

Website: redcross.org

Horry County Humane Society

2101 Industrial Park Road

Conway, South Carolina 29526

(843)-915-5172

Email: renee@horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Website: www.horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Source- WMBF

The destruction of 26 buildings with 110 units at Windsor Green of Carolina Forest on Sunday, March 17, 2013. Photo by Janet Blackmon Morgan / jblackmon@thesunnews.com JANET BLACKMON MORGAN — jblackmon@thesunnews.com

Red Cross

3531 Pampas Drive

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577

(843)-477-0020

Website: redcross.org

Horry County Humane Society

2101 Industrial Park Road

Conway, South Carolina 29526

(843)-915-5172

Email: renee@horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Website: www.horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Source- WMBF

MYRLTE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – On Wednesday at 7 p.m., WMBF News presented “Rebuild, Recover, Renew,” an hour-long special focusing on the Carolina Forest Fire, and helped raise over $2,700 for fire victims.

WMBF News will had complete coverage on the latest on the investigation, shared victim’s stories, provided information and resources to help the community recover, and spoke to knowledgeable experts in this time of crisis.

WMBF News will also had a phone bank to raise money live for families displaced by the fire.

We’d like to extend our gratitude to everyone who called in to donate during the special.

The number listed during this special is no longer active – those wishing to donate to the Red Cross can call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit: redcross.org

Red Cross

3531 Pampas Drive

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577

(843)-477-0020

Website: redcross.org

Horry County Humane Society

2101 Industrial Park Road

Conway, South Carolina 29526

(843)-915-5172

Email: renee@horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Website: www.horrycountyhumanesociety.com

Source- MyrtleBeachOnline

By Seanna Adcox — The Associated Press

COLUMBIA — Church cake walks and quilt raffles may finally become legal in South Carolina, as gambling opponents who’ve long blocked raffle-enabling legislation are giving a thumbs-up to the latest version.

Schools, churches and other nonprofits could hold a limited number of regulated raffles yearly under legislation advanced Wednesday by a Senate panel. Voters must first approve changing the state constitution to allow it. The panel approved a separate measure that puts that question before voters in November 2014.

Currently, the only legal raffle in South Carolina is the state lottery. The state is among just four nationwide that outlaws raffles.

Raffles are held regularly across the state anyway. But enforcement of the ban is selective, depending largely on whether someone complains to law enforcement officers.

Previous efforts to make raffles legal have failed as gambling opponents feared the unintended consequences of any change to the state’s centuries-old gambling laws.

But those concerns seem to be allayed. The idea’s previous opponents said Wednesday they support the latest proposal.

“This tightens it up very well,” said Oran Smith of the Palmetto Family Council, noting that people are unlikely to become addicted to raffles. “We think it’s a great effort and solves the problem.”

“Beautiful!” responded the subcommittee’s chairman, Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Conway.

Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell, who has long advocated throwing out the antiquated ban, said the bill would take South Carolina into the 21st century and help nonprofits harmlessly raise money to do good works across the state. As McConnell stepped down from his post last year as Senate president pro tem – after former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard resigned – he cited the raffle legislation as something he’d wanted to see through. Now that McConnell is overseeing the Office on Aging, he said, he frequently encounters elderly residents who want to raise money for their senior centers by selling quilts and other crafts.

“But their hands are tied,” he said. “It’s a bad law. It’s outdated.”

Unlike previous versions, the bill allows no poker-themed fundraisers and bars the possibility of organizers profiting from raffles. Nonprofits could not hire anyone to run them.

The bill sets a maximum ticket cost at $100 and caps the total value of prizes at $250,000 per raffle. Nonprofits registered with the secretary of state could hold up to four raffles yearly. Nonprofits that raffle off a non-cash prize worth less than $500 wouldn’t have to register with the state – an exemption intended to allow garden clubs or other civic groups to legally hold an occasional raffle.

Sen. Wes Hayes, the Senate’s chief gambling opponent, said he’s comfortable with this bill, which should go a long way to easing any other legislator’s concerns.

“We’ve been wanting this to pass for the longest time,” said Jackie Richards of Family Connection of SC, which advocates for disabled children.

The recession has exacerbated the ban’s impact on nonprofits, she said.

“When the collapse of the economy occurred, people had to pull in their wallets. They’ve not let go of them yet,” she said. “We need help. We really want this to pass.”

South Carolina’s Lions clubs have lost $500,000 a year since state law enforcement officers – responding to a complaint – threatened a Tega Cay club that was raffling off a motorcycle, said state president Gregg Turner.

He had to tell the state’s 160 clubs to cease all raffles out of fear members would get arrested. The drastic drop in revenue means the nonprofit can provide fewer hearing aids, eye surgeries, and vision and hearing screenings, Turner said.

“Selective enforcement is a major problem,” said Turner, who’s been pushing for legislation for more than seven years. “Either we need to find a way to once and for all pass this bill so charitable organizations can operate within the law or we need to enforce the law.”

Source- WLTX

Columbia, SC (WTLX) — Raising money through raffle could become legal in South Carolina.

A senate bill would make charity and non-profit raffles legal, and requiring the funds for to charitable purpose.

The bill passed a senate subcommittee Wednesday afternoon.

“You’ve got legitimate, bona fide, fund raising efforts to be hamstrung, really, by a very antiquated view on gambling and our definition of a game of chance and an illegal activity,” said Horry County Senator Luke Rankin. ”I hope that we will join the main stream of the country in recognizing that this isn’t a criminal operation.”

The proposal would not apply to “Vegas” , “casino” or “Monte Carlo” themed nights or electronic gaming machines.

It would allow groups to register with the secretary of state’s office to operate the raffles, some groups would be able to hold raffles without registration.

Lawmakers and community groups have worked on the issue for years and some say the change in long overdue.

“The overwhelming refrain from all sides of this today is this product represents the best we could hope for. That there is no sense of an addictive quality or raffling and that again, for the first times in 7 or 8 years we’re now on the same page,” said Rankin.  He added groups concerned of gambling addictions seems to agree that raffling does not pose that risk.

If the bill clears the House and Senate it will still require a constitutional amendment,  which would come up for a vote on the 2014 general election ballot.

Lawmakers say it could be 2015 before we could see those legal raffles in place.

Source-Post & Courier

COLUMBIA — A state Senate panel advanced Gov. Nikki Haley’s nominee to run the state’s insurance agency, with the nominee telling senators the department’s chief focus is on the issue of coastal insurance rates.

The nomination of Ray Farmer next heads to the full Senate, where he is expected to be confirmed.

Wednesday marked the third committee confirmation hearing for Farmer, a Georgia native who most recently worked as an insurance industry lobbyist for 33 years but before that served as a regulator and adjustor.

The extended committee confirmation process is a departure from the typically swift confirmation votes for S.C. gubernatorial nominees.

Farmer faced criticism and opposition from Lowcountry insurance activist Daryl Ferguson, and questioning from senators on the Banking and Insurance Committee concerned about home insurance rates.

But lawmakers decided Wednesday that Farmer deserves the chance to address the rate issues.

“The only way we can figure out if you can do the job or not is to give you a chance,” Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Prosperity, said to Farmer.

Sens. Luke Rankin, R-Conway, and Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia, said the hearing process for Farmer that was heavy on fact-finding should represent the new standard for Senate confirmation hearings.

And Rankin said lawmakers should have done more to examine the insurance rate issues brought to the fore by Ferguson before the hearing. “It’s an indictment of ourselves that we as a legislative body haven’t done more to examine these issues,” he said.

Farmer has led the insurance agency since December in an interim role. He told lawmakers Wednesday that the department has made progress in his short time on the job. He disputed the use of statistics highlighted by Ferguson in previous hearings showing insurers in South Carolina have received a greater than 20 percent return on their investments in the state.

The statistics used by Ferguson are maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Farmer emphasized to senators that in 2011, South Carolina insurers received a negative 8 percent return on their investment, a result of various weather events. Factoring in 2011, the industry still made an average of 20 percent profit compared with their investment in South Carolina over the last decade. Farmer argued that a better examination insurance rates involves looking at the last 25 years, not just the last decade.

“We need to have our companies solvent,” he said. “We need them to be here for the long run to pay claims.”

But Farmer said tackling the issue of home insurance rates paid by coastal consumers is his top priority. An independent actuary study of the home insurance rates charged by the top seven providers will be completed within the next few weeks, he said.

A series in The Post and Courier last year featuring Ferguson revealed that South Carolina has some of the highest home insurance rates in the nation, and that state regulators have done little to examine the industry’s secret black box computer programs and other arcane rules that make rates so high.

Ferguson said after Wednesday’s hearing that he disagreed with senators’ decision to advance Farmer, but noted that the committee had no idea about the coastal insurance issue before the hearing.

“It provided an eye-opener to senators,” he said.

A Senate subcommittee has been appointed to further study home insurance rates in South Carolina.

Source-Post and Courier

Premiums for wind insurance along the South Carolina coast are too high, and the state’s next insurance director needs to find out why, a coastal lawmaker said in an occasionally tense confirmation hearing Wednesday for Ray Farmer, Gov. Nikki Haley’s nominee to run the department.

Farmer, meanwhile, told state senators that he was uniquely qualified to run the agency because of his 33 years as a lobbyist and previous work as a regulator and adjuster in Georgia.

Confirmation hearings tend to be routine, but Wednesday’s meeting brought to the fore an issue that lawmakers have barely touched in five years — high home insurance rates, particularly for homeowners in the Lowcountry. In the end, this complex issue was too much to swallow in one hour, and senators decided to continue the hearing at a later date.

Some of the hardest questioning came from Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican who also was Gov. Mark Sanford’s chief of staff during the home insurance crisis of the mid-2000s. During that time, insurers jacked up rates along the coast and many pulled out altogether.

In response, the state relaxed regulations and enlarged the “wind pool,” an area where residents are guaranteed insurance by the S.C. Wind and Hail Association, the state-chartered “insurer of last resort.”

Citing studies that insurers in South Carolina have enjoyed a 20-plus-percent return on their investments in the state, Davis suggested that the insurance market is out of whack. He asked Farmer whether he thought “premiums right now on the coast accurately match up with the risk being assumed by those (insurance) companies?”

Farmer replied, “I think for the most part they do reflect the risk.” He added that the insurance market would be more competitive if companies thought they would make money in South Carolina, but that home insurance is not a “profit-making line. From the results I just saw yesterday, for every dollar invested, the homeowner company paid out a dollar and eight cents.”

Davis persisted, “I’m a little concerned by the default setting coming in on your part that premiums are not too high.”

Davis and Farmer were drawing on statistics compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and used by industry and consumer groups.

Over the past 10 years, insurers in South Carolina made an average 20 percent profit on the value of the company’s investments in the state, the association said in a recent report. This profit measure includes data in 2011, a year South Carolina insurers suffered a negative 8 percent return because of severe hail, tornados and other storms.

Some of the most forceful language during the hearing came from Daryl Ferguson, a retired telecommunications executive from Beaufort who estimated that he spent 4,000 hours studying insurance issues.

“This is a catastrophe for the state,” he said. “We’re paying some of the highest rates and the insurance industry is making exorbitant profits.”

Ferguson told lawmakers that the state needs an insurance chief who is independent and an experienced negotiator and manager. He complimented Farmer on his “wonderful personality” and said in another context “he might be one of my best friends,” but “he doesn’t have the basic skills you need” to run the agency.

Ferguson was featured last year in a Post and Courier series, “Storm of Money,” which revealed that South Carolina has some of the highest home insurance rates in the nation, and that state regulators have done little to examine the industry’s secret black box computer programs and other arcane rules that make our rates so high.

After the hourlong hearing, it became clear that other senators and speakers wouldn’t have a chance to weigh in, and that Farmer needed more time to respond. Robert Hayes, R-Rock Hill, chairman of the powerful Senate and Banking Committee, said the nomination proceeding would continue at a later date.

That was unusual, said Luke Rankin, a Republican whose district covers Horry County and a 20-year veteran of the Senate.

“This is not something to schmooze through,” he said.

Rankin added that home insurance is a hot-button issue for many of his constituents. He said Haley’s nomination of an insurance lobbyist seemed like “asking a fox to guard the hen house.” He said it shows that the insurance chief should be an elected position.

It’s unclear whether Farmer’s nomination faces a serious threat. “It’s too early,” said Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville. After the meeting, Democrats invited Ferguson to continue his presentation in a more informal setting. And, as the hearing ended, Davis said, “This isn’t a rubber-stamp thing. I think this is just the beginning of an important conversation.”