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VOLUME 18 ISSUE 7
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JUNE 28, 2024
Bobcat population once again threatened by rat poison BY THERESA STRATFORD For The Island Connection
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he June 4 Kiawah Island Town Council Meeting began with an unfortunate update. After all the work the Town and Kiawah residents have done over the past four years to voluntarily stop the use of a certain rat poison – secondgeneration anticoagulant, or SGAs, rodenticides – in order to increase the bobcat population, Jim Jordan, the Town’s biologist, announced that rates have recently increased in the predators yet again. That means that after the bobcat population had been stable, it is now in decline, according to Jordan. Historically, Jordan said that everything was going well until 2017 when they noticed the survival rate for bobcats had dramatically decreased. At the time, they even noticed that the deer population had increased significantly since predators like bobcats were not hunting as much. Why? It was all due to the increase in SGAs. Jordan said that SGAs do not kill rodents immediately, so they go out into the wild to be eaten by predators, one of those being the bobcat, which in turn, poisons the predator. Jordan and his team have studied other rodent-eating animals, such as alligators, (continued on page 2)
BY THERESA STRATFORD For The Island Connection
f you are one of the select few to have received an informative – and may I say, quite stylish – sticker on your recycling or trash bin, consider yourself lucky. That means that you have been selected to participate in a useful pilot program by the Town of Kiawah Island. This program aims to educate residents and visitors on the proper items to recycle and dispose of in their household bins, especially since programs vary from state to state and sometimes county to county. Town Council Member Michael Heidingsfelder, who heads up the Kiawah Goes Green initiative, said, “For many years, we have experienced notable crosscontamination in trash and recycling bins. The reasons are manifold [and include] residents and visitors not knowing the details of what can and should be recycled; not knowing what is actually hazardous material that should neither go in a landfill nor in a recycling process; and having different recycling (continued on page 2) [rules] in their former or current
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SEABROOK COUPLE RECEIVES ORDER OF THE PA L M E T T O F O R P H I L A N T H R O P I C S E R V I C E BY JENNY PETERSON For The Island Connection
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STICKERS ON RECYCLING BINS TO CLEAR UP CONTAMINATION MISHAPS
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(L to R) Peggy and Gov. Henry McMaster, Laurel Greer and Hank Greer.
efore even moving to the Palmetto state, Hank and Laurel Greer began donating to Sea Island Habitat for Humanity, an organization they discovered while vacationing in the Lowcountry. It was a testament to the couple’s commitment to giving back to the community and was just the beginning of their long legacy of spearheading transformative projects and initiatives that make South Carolina a better place to live, work and play. The Greers first met while both working for GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation. They shared a love for giving back to important causes, including helping homeless individuals and at-risk mothers in their Connecticut community. When they moved to Seabrook Island in 1999 to enjoy retirement, they focused their philanthropic efforts on expanding access to health care and supporting animal welfare, eventually creating the nonprofit Henry H. and Laurel K. Greer Foundation in 2003, which significantly supports a range of philanthropic causes. “The causes we support are things that strike us as deeply important and hit our heart strings,” Laurel said. Through their family foundation, the Greers have help build better hospital helipads; provided free cancer screenings and awareness for low-income populations; supported cutting-edge medical research
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and education; purchased K-9 police dogs for local law enforcement; and expanded critical pet spay/neuter accessibility to South Carolinians in rural and other underserved communities. They also sit on a number of foundation boards. One of their earliest efforts was supporting MUSC Heart & Vascular Center. In 2016, they established the Hank and Laurel Greer Colorectal Cancer Program with Roper St. Francis, which focuses on providing and improving screening to give patients their best chance at survival. It’s a cause close to their hearts, as Hank’s mother passed away from colon cancer. Also with Roper St. Francis, The Greer Transitions Clinic opened in a new location on Rivers Avenue in 2017. The clinic continues to expand and make a dramatic impact meeting the medical needs and addressing the social determinants of health and wellness for approximately 2,000 patients a year through the following services: Behavioral health; Postacute medical care; OB/GYN services; Counseling; Community paramedicine; Tele-psych mental health services; Food and clothing; Primary care; Preventive care; Social workers; Access Health Navigation Series; Community health advocates; Transportation; and Medical supplies and toiletries. The couple has a long-standing history of supporting the Seabrook community, recently purchasing two (continued on page 3) and a half lots to donate to
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