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VOL. 118, NO. 122 WWW.THEITEM.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
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Task force distributes $50K to Shaw Money given to four communities meant to alleviate effects of sequester BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com It’s unclear just what effect the ongoing sequestration will have on Shaw Air Force Base and the Sumter community. But Sumter got a little outside support Tuesday in the form of a $50,000 check from the state.
State Comptroller Gen. Richard Eckstrom presented local leaders with an oversized check from the South Carolina Military Base Task Force, which Eckstrom chairs, outside the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce building Tuesday afternoon. The check is part of a distribution of $200,000 to Sum-
ter and three other military communities — Beaufort, Charleston and Columbia — to try to alleviate the looming effects of federal budget cuts that could eliminate $1 trillion in total spending over the next decade. The money will be spent jointly by the city and county to support Shaw through the sequestra-
tion process. “Shaw is a cornerstone of the community,” Eckstrom said, “not just in the economy, but as tremendous contributors to the community as well.” The money will come from the task force established during previous rounds of federal base closures, and Eckstrom is asking local com-
munities to raise a matching amount. The group doesn’t allocate money directly to military institutions themselves but works with local governments to support them. In accepting the money, Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen SEE SHAW, PAGE A10
Zumbathon raises money, awareness for sickle cell
Bynum announces Baptist convention will be held at SHS
BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com
The South Carolina Baptist Congress of Christian Education annual convention will come to Sumter in July, bringing with it an expected 1,500 to 2,000 people for the six-day event. Sumter School District Superintendent Randolph Bynum announced during the district’s Board of Trust- INSIDE ees meeting on Monday Sumter school that the district reached board discusses an agreement with conenrollment, vention organizers, committee agreeing to host event makup. A2 July 14-19 at Sumter High School. As part of the rental agreement for the facilities, the Baptists will pay the school district $13,500, which Bynum said would go directly to the Sumter High coffers. This was not the first time local school officials had attempted to partner with the convention. Bynum said the organization had reached out to the local school district to hold the event last year, but an agreement could not be reached in time. “We made a commitment last year that we were going to work with our faith-based partners, because they do stuff for us,” Bynum said, adding he thinks the event could have a significant impact on the Sumter economy. “We’ve said all along that we’re a part of the infrastructure of this community, and we want to find ways to give back,” Bynum said. “I expect these people to go to our restaurants. They’re going to be in our hotels. They’re going to go shopping. So, anything that we can do to help boost the economy, it’s incumbent upon us as a partner to do.” The Rev. Marion Newton, senior pastor of Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church — whose church will also host a welcoming worship service at the beginning of the event — said state organizers became interested in Sumter High because it provided a large enough location to host the entire convention
If you were at the M.H. Newton Family Life Center on Saturday, you would have seen several dozen women work up quite a sweat as they Zumba-cized themselves into a fervor. While they might have been soaked in sweat from their shoulders to their waists, their shirts clinging to their backs, these ladies — and a few men — didn’t mind at all; it was for a good cause. They were taking part in a Zumbathon organized to raise money for the Sickle Cell Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for sickle cell disease, a painful and often crippling disorder that primarily affects blacks. Angela Burkett, a Zumba instructor at Cross Training Martial Arts, organized the event and kept motivating the participants all the way through the more than fourhour-long dance marathon. She urges everyone to spread awareness of sickle cell and its debilitating symptoms. “A lot of people don’t know much about the disease,” Burkett said. “Both my granddaughters have it. The younger one is having a really tough time with it right now.” Like Burkett, Terri Jones was
BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com
PHOTOS BY ROB COTTINGHAM / THE ITEM
Carmen Thomas, a Zumba instructor from Columbia, begins her high-impact dance workout at the Zumbathon at M.H. Newton Family Life Center on Saturday.
one of several people present who had a personal connection to the disease. “I found out I carried the trait when I was pregnant,” Jones said.
“As an African-American, I’m quite aware of the severity of the disease.” SEE ZUMBA, PAGE A8
Dancers pump their fists as the final Zumba workout begins Saturday. Participants sweated for four-and-a-half hours at the event as they raised money for the Sickle Cell Foundation. See more photos of the event on page A8.
SEE CONVENTION, PAGE A10 20 N. Magnolia St. Sumter, SC 29150 (USPS 525-900)
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