EASLEY — Easley Business and Professional Women will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 12:30 p.m.

The meeting will be at Fatz Café in Easley. Guest speaker is Cindy Perry of the Pickens YMCA.

Perry will share the Mentor Pickens program and opportunities for service and support.

Lunch is $10. RSVP by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to Lynne Mathis at lmathis@marshbell.com or by calling (864) 295-2728.

• Sarlin to present an evening with Wright

The Friends of the Sarlin Library are thrilled to host an evening with award-winning graphic artist Emily Wright on Monday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m.

Wright, who is employed by the Pickens County Courier, is the recipient of more than 75 Palmy Awards in South Carolina Press Association’s annual contest. Library officials said they are honored to have her share her journey that began as a child with “doodles on birthday cards” to her role, now, in the newspaper business, as the department head of graphic design since 2007.

• Steppin’ It Up Coalition to meet

The Steppin’ It Up Coalition will hold its monthly meeting on Nov. 9. The meeting will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the City of Pickens Recreation Department, located at 545 Sangamo Road in Pickens.

Meetings are open to anyone interested in educating youth on the dangers and health implications of alcohol, tobacco and drug exposure and use.

For more information about the Steppin’ It Up Coalition, contact Cathy Breazeale at (864) 898-5800 or visit steppinituppickens.org.

PICKENS — Grace United Methodist Church in Pickens will host its annual fall bazaar and luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 12.

The event will start at 7 a.m. Admission to the bazaar is free. A turkey and dressing lunch will be available for only $10 and will be served between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The dining room and Carryout will close promptly at 1:30 p.m. The lunch will be dine-in or carryout. Delivery service is available for four or more plates and within a five-mile radius of the church. Call the church office at (864) 878-2161 for tickets or a delivery.

The bazaar will include baked goods, candy, handmade jewelry, handmade crafts, wood crafts, holiday items, homemade jams, jellies, pickles and the like.

Grace United Methodist Church is located at 309 E. Cedar Rock St. in Pickens.

PICKENS — The seventh annual yard sale of Faith Lutheran Chapel will be held Oct. 23-24 from 7 a..m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds from the sale will go to local charities.

Household items, clothing, craft items, books, furniture, holiday items and baked goods will be sold. Utilizing supplemental funds from Thrivent Financial, every dollar spent will provide $1.50 to the Gleaning House to purchase needed food for Pickens residents.

With a great many reasonably priced items and support from frugal area shoppers, the yard sale that began as a means of allowing a small, beginning church to help feed the hungry of Pickens now can financially help several other area groups.

The church is located at 729 W. Main St. across from Blue Ridge Co-op.

CLEMSON — Clemson Area StoryTellers (CAST) Guild will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at The Arts Center at 212 Butler St. in Clemson.

Have stories to share? Come and tell them where you have a captive audience.

Everyone is invited to an evening of family friendly stories, poetry or music. Attend as a listener or a teller — all are welcome.

For more information, visit explorearts.org, call (864) 855-6396 or email clemsonareastorytellers@yahoo.com.

PICKENS — Grace United Methodist Church in Pickens will host its annual fall bazaar and luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 12.

The event will start at 7 p.m. Admission to the bazaar is free. A turkey and dressing lunch will be available for only $10 and will be served between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The dining room and Carryout will close promptly at 1:30 p.m.

The lunch will be dine-in or carryout. Delivery service is available for four or more plates and within a five-mile radius of the the church. Call the church office at (864) 878-2161 for tickets or a delivery.

The bazaar will include baked goods, candy, handmade jewelry, handmade crafts, wood crafts, holiday items, homemade jams, jellies, pickles and the like.

Grace United Methodist Church is located at 309 E. Cedar Rock St. in Pickens.

By Olivia Fowler
For The Courier

ofowler@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — When Frederica Davenport drove away from D&D Motors in Greer in a 2004 Ford Explorer, she wasn’t just driving[cointent_lockedcontent]

Courtesy Photo
From left, D&D Motors general manager Skip Davenport, car recipient Frederica Davenport, Family Promise director Armilla Moore and Allstate regional director Curtis Brock were on hand for a recent car donation ceremony.

home. She was driving into a new life.

The 36-year-old single mother of three is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

A year ago, the Davenport family was homeless and without transportation. The family had nowhere to turn. Then, Family Promise of Pickens County came into their lives. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to giving homeless families a hand up, not a hand out.

Family Promise provides a safe place for families, where more than just food and shelter is available. There are 14 host churches, each in turn offering one week of housing and food to the families in the program.

Transportation, job training, counseling and other services are also given to each participating family so at the end of their months in the program they have secured affordable housing, a job and continued mentoring.

“Frederica came to Family Promise in the fall of 2014,” Family Promise director Armilla Moore said. “She and her children were homeless. She had a lot of skepticism and apprehension when she entered the program. Her children were displaced and uncertain.

“As a part of the program, they spent many nights sleeping in churches. Through Frederica’s hard work and with the help of Family Promise, she not only found housing and employment, she also found friends and family. By January 2015 she was able to move into a home with affordable rent and find full-time employment.”

Davenport had completed the program. She and her children were living together in a home she could afford in a safe neighborhood. She had a job.

The only component missing was transportation. She was scrambling for rides to work. She and the children walked miles to the grocery store, and the lack of a car seemed to be an unsolvable problem.

And then, Moore discovered a grant program sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company that donates recycled vehicles to qualified homeless families.

“We knew the chances were small,” Moore said.

But they sent in Davenport’s application and waited to hear.

Curtis Brock of Allstate said the program, 800 Charities Through Recycled Rides, donates totaled salvage vehicles that are repairable to the program. Some are donated to technical schools for automotive repair classes. But some go to families who have no other way of getting transportation. The title is signed over to the new owner.

Eddie Snipes of Allstate spotted the car and test drove it at the salvage yard to see if it would qualify.

Copart Salvage Yard delivers repairable vehicles at no charge to D&D Motors, the third partner in the program.

D&D general manager Skip Davenport said the dealership donates repairs and reconditioning of the vehicles to the program, because they want to help these families get reliable transportation. They also coordinate the donation process.

When Davenport got behind the wheel and started the engine, the expression on her face made it clear what the car represents to her.

She recently started a new job at the VA in Belton as a medical assistant and now has a way to get there. Her family is among the first in Pickens County to complete the Family Promise program.

Moore said the transformation in the entire family since they entered the program has been amazing.

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