[Community Outreach] SCPCA Horse Show helps kids with cancer

SCPCA’s involvement with the show raised more than $55,000 in 2009 for three week-long camps for cancer-stricken children.
 

In 13 years the South Carolina Pest Control Association (SCPCA) has raised more than $500,000 in support of three summer camps for children with cancer and their siblings, by hosting an annual equestrian show and competition each fall.

More than 10 percent of the $507,000 the association has raised came from 2009 alone, when the horse show brought in $55,000 for the three week-long camps. Now the association is gearing up for its 2010 Camps Kemo, Courage and Happy Days Horse Show, with plans to earn $80,000 more toward the cause.

The show is held in cooperation with the state’s eight regional pest control associations, which raise money primarily by selling advertisements that appear in the show program. All profits from the event have gone to the three camps.

The three volunteer-staffed summer camps operate with support from local hospitals, and campers attend free of charge. The camps also count on fundraisers such as this one to cover their costs. "We are the leading fundraiser for the camps," said event chairman Wheeler Buff, speaking on behalf of SCPCA. "There are a lot of people in SCPCA who have worked very hard to make this program possible. They’ve touched a lot of lives through their generosity." Buff, owner of distribution company Carolina PCO Supply Co., has chaired the event since its inception. Also a longtime horse enthusiast, Buff came up with the fundraising idea in 1994, when the state’s Midland region association was looking for a way to give back to the community.

"I knew that we could make money doing that," said Buff, who has owned and shown horses for 40 years. The idea was a new one for his colleagues, but they liked it. "Most of these folks had never been within 50 feet of a horse," he said. Buff also helped the association select the charity. A number of groups brought proposals, however it was the area’s Camp Kemo for children with cancer that ultimately won the region over.

AN EXPANDED EFFORT. Within a few years, the fundraiser had earned $20,000 for that summer camp, and was beginning to grab the attention of other South Carolina PCOs, including Tom Fortson, president of Terminix Service, Columbia, S.C., who was president of SCPCA in 1996. He attended that year’s show to learn more. "I had no idea frankly that it was as big as it was," he said. "Once I got there and saw the number of events, I saw that it was much more involved than I thought."

Fortson said his main interest in attending the event was getting the state association to give something back to the community. "We just didn’t have anything that we were doing along those lines," he said. "I just felt like the state association needed to have some kind of a philanthropic mission or project."

After seeing the event, an impressed Fortson asked Buff if the state association could take over and host the show on a larger scale. To his surprise, the request was welcomed. "I knew we had two other camps," recalls Buff, referring to Camps Courage and Happy Days, located in other regions of the state and also geared for children with cancer. The timing also was right for the other regional associations, which were looking to hold their own fundraisers. So, in 1997 the sponsorship was turned over to the state association, and all three camps were named as beneficiaries.

Today the horse show draws about 500 attendees and features some 300 entrants competing in more than 60 classes of professionally judged events. As the fundraiser has grown, competitions also have evolved among regional associations vying to earn the most funds towards the cause. "We made it competitive for the local associations across the state working to raise money for the camp in their area," Buff said. The winning region receives a large horseshoe trophy to keep until the next year’s competition. Toward that end, a few of the regional groups also hold smaller fundraising events to support the cause. For example, the Midlands and Pee Dee associations have held a clay shoot tournament each April to raise additional money for the show, while the Greater Charleston group has hosted a training seminar.

A WELL-DESERVED HONOR. Buff, who turns 70 this year, says he is ready to turn the planning of the event over to a new chairperson after this year’s show. "It’s time for me to slow down a little bit," he explains. He will chair the event in 2010.

In February, SCPCA took the opportunity to recognize Buff for his long-time insight, commitment and hard work, by presenting him with the association’s first ever distinguished service award.

The 2010 horse show is set for Oct. 16, at the Red Bank Arena in Red Bank, S.C. For more information or to contribute, contact the SCPCA at www.scpca.net.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT and can be reached at lmckenna@giemedia.com.