Call to Action for SCWW

 

By Ginny Padgett

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our workshop’s origin, we are a chapter of South Carolina Writers’ Workshop (www.myscww.org). All persons over the age of 18 are welcome to visit any chapter and become members of SCWW. The dues are $52.00 per year. Membership fees go toward activities and programs like paying liability insurance for each chapter meeting, maintaining the website where you may share your published works, website and blog page, contests, annual anthology and a nationally recognized writing conference.

Last October, SCWW presented one of its most successful conferences – ask the agents and editors who were faculty for the weekend. Unfortunately the economic climate of the past few years has steadily eroded conference attendance at Myrtle Beach. Even observing the tightest of budgets, for the first time in 22 years the organization ended the year in the red. There just weren’t enough participants to meet expenses. Many writing conferences and other artistic endeavors have been eliminated in the last two to three years. Sadly ours is not an uncommon dilemma these days.

Beginning in January, a fund-raising campaign was launched, including donations by individuals, philanthropists and corporations (including an on-line auction organized and executed by Michelle Johnson of Corvisiero Literary Agency), and has netted about $4,000.00. That amount covers one-third of the deficit. SCWW needs your help in the following ways:

• Pay your dues on time. All membership fee are due on January 1, 2013, unless you became a new member in 2012.
• Make a tax-deductible donation. Your contribution will be recognized on the website (www.myscww.org/sponsors/). Here is the address and suggested levels of giving or use PayPal at the Donate button at the bottom of the SCWW home page.

SCWW Donations

4840 Forest Drive

Suite 6B, PMB 189

Columbia, SC 29206

$25.00 – Friend

$26.00-$100.00 – Benefactor

$101.00-$200.00 – Sponsor

$201.00-$350.00 – Diamond Sponsor

$351.00-$500.00 – Platinum Sponsor

$501 and up – Angel

·        Contact a business or individual who supports the arts to ask for a financial donation or contact SCWW President Ginny Padgett (ginnypadgett@att.net) with pertinent information or ideas. Separate categories of giving apply to this group.

The SCWW Board of Directors is working tirelessly to resolve this deficit. Please join the effort. For 22 years SCWW has supported writers and their dreams. Now it’s your turn to lend a hand to SCWW.