Helping Out for June 6, 2018

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Helping Out highlights some of the many charitable events and activities going on in the Charleston area. Submissions can be made online.

The recipients of LimRic Plumbing, Heating & Air’s May Give Back Grant are Bundles of Joy Diaper Bank of the Lowcountry and the Charleston Friends of the Library. The Give Back Grant program picks two nonprofit organizations as grant recipients each month.

Palmetto Community Care, previously Lowcountry AIDS Services, is using its new mobile testing van to give free, confidential HIV tests to Charleston-area residents. The van, which aims to reach rural and high-need communities, was made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Palmetto Community Care’s prevention team is taking the van to nightclubs, community centers, health fairs, special events and Walgreens locations throughout the tri-county area.

Through June, Palmetto Community Care is also a chance to win two tickets to the Jay-Z and Beyonce On the Run II Tour Aug. 21 in Columbia, including a parking pass, when a free HIV test is taken.

Palmetto Community Care is also holding Gay Bingo, with hostess Patti O’Furniture, from 6 to 10 p.m. Aug. 16 at Memminger Auditorium. The fundraising event will include a costume contest.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 as of Aug. 1 and $40 the day of the event for general admission. VIP tickets are $60 in advance and $75 the day of the event, including a pre-event reception at 5 p.m. with free sparkling wine, plus premium seating in the reserved VIP section and a free drink ticket.

The Patriots Point Foundation board donated a new, six-seat electric shuttle to Patriots Point Development Authority for the Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant.

The foundation is also raising money to support student scholarships to the STEM-related Flight Academy on the USS Yorktown. The foundation will match donations up to $5,000 individually and $25,000 total.

Bert’s Big Adventure, a nonprofit organization that provides an all-expenses-paid, five-day journey to Walt Disney World for children with chronic and terminal illnesses and their families, is accepting applications and nominations for the 2019 trip.

To qualify, children must be between the ages of 5 and 12, diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness and have never been to Walt Disney World. The family must be struggling with financial hardship and live in the radio listening area of The Bert Show, a national morning radio show based in Atlanta. The Bert Show can be heard in Charleston on 95SX.

The application and nomination forms are available online and include an option to nominate a family anonymously. Families may also apply for themselves. All applications must be submitted by Sept. 10. The selection process is not based on votes, and only one nomination per child will be accepted. Families who are selected will be notified by Jan. 10.

Healthy Human LLC will donate 50% of proceeds from the sales of its three-piece stainless steel straw set and 15% of the proceeds made from online sales of other stainless steel products to the Charleston chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Customers should use the code SURFRIDER to trigger the donation.