Born into a life as a healer, Charlotte White is a true Charity Angel and has been a gift to people too numerous to count. She has been a volunteer at Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) for quite a long time but as you will see, she offers much more than that.

Libby Ricardo

Assistant Professor of Theater University of South Carolina
at Beaufort
Hometown: Cranston, Rhode Island
Lives in: Bluffton, SC
What I do: Actor. Director. Teacher.

We never know which of our experiences will paint our lives a different color. Although we may not be able to change the major life events we will live through, the choices we make in between can make an important difference in our growth.

Lisette Cifaldi is a self-proclaimed professional dieter. Atkins, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach, Grapefruit, Cabbage Soup…you can’t name a diet she hasn’t tried. And, every single one of them worked—she lost weight. The only problem is she would gain it all back, plus some, when she stopped the diet plan. That was ten years ago. Since, she has landed on a different plan, lost 60 pounds and kept it all off.

The little girl grasped the book with wide-eyed wonder. Mesmerized by the words, she discovered an enchanting link with the world, which would quickly become a permanent entanglement. “I was always a voracious reader, and I’m so thankful God chose to give us words,” declared Lydia Inglett, CEO and Publisher of Lydia Inglett Publishing and Starbooks.biz. Although she is an award winning, national publisher of beautiful books on multiple topics, she never strayed from her Christian Southern roots, quietly reflected in her soothing demeanor. In her lovely home overlooking stunning marsh waters, we explored her journey from a shy childhood to successful executive. “I always wrote and painted. Art is another mainstay in my life, as I started lessons at age four. By age 14, I was trying to figure out a way to earn a living. My parents encouraged each of my interests, and my father repeatedly emphasized I could do anything I wanted if the desire was strong enough.”

Mary Anna Hanke is a snow-capped, twinkle-eyed, octogenarian dynamo.  She golfs two to three times a week, typically completing her usual nine holes in less than two hours.  Respectable indeed!  She has embraced a service oriented way of life since her youth and continues that commitment now with her support of the Adaptive Golf Experience program.  Individuals with challenges due to spinal chord injuries, stroke, TBI, or amputation are given the opportunity to learn the sport with the appropriate adaptations from a golf professional and physical therapist.  They experience the joy and satisfaction of bringing outdoor recreational activity back into their lives.  The clinics are held the third Saturday of every month from 9 to 11 a.m., are free and open to civilians, veterans, and active military at The Legends Golf Course at Parris Island.  The availability of high-tech adaptive devices, such as Ottobech Paragolfer, an Eagle Standup and a Solo-Rider, allow even those without the ability to stand to enjoy the sport.   The course maintains the adaptive equipment for use by the para-golfers whenever they choose to play a round.  The organization has full support from Beaufort Memorial Hospital Orthopedic and Rehabilitative Services departments, as well as the Marine Corps Community Services organization.  Mary Anna regularly plays at The Legends Course with golfers she has met at the clinics.  She smiles broadly, “I have one buddy who hits it farther with one arm than I can with two!  I am always so impressed by the participants’ abilities and so happy to be a part of helping them find their way to enhancing and expanding those abilities.”

Over 30 years ago a young woman in Massachusetts struggled with the lingering challenges of a violent abusive childhood. A friend gave her a panda costume informing her he was getting out of the “panda-gram” business. Three-dozen costumes later, she found herself running a successful singing telegram business. Little did she know that it would all lead to a career as a professional clown. Like so many comedic talents before her, she saw a way to take her pain and turn it into joy for her audience.

I spend almost every morning sitting on my back steps, drinking coffee and admiring my neighbor’s fence. It’s like a mini folk art gallery filled with colorful flowers (below) made from hubcaps and cookie tin lids, fish made from pieces of corrugated metal, painted windows, a creature made from discarded rakes and valentines, along with a plethora of other whimsical pieces. Most of it she makes herself, with a few exceptions. Each morning, I like to try to figure out if Ms. Molly has added anything new. People ride down our street just to check out her fence. They come on golf carts and bicycles and sometimes on foot.

Marjorie Gray got her inspiration from the dripping wet family dog, a black flat coat retriever. Watching him one day at a dock on the Beaufort River gave her an “aha” moment. From her website she writes: “I sat and watched my dog, River, launch himself into the water over and over with his ears back, tail wagging and tongue flying. With each splash, he turned and swam back so he could jump again, so excited to continue his celebration. His enthusiasm was inspiring; the simplicity was magic. That day on the dock I was reminded of what my mother always said: ‘Dogs have so many lessons to teach.’”

Artists are instruments of inspiration and passion. For some, the creative juices fire up because of the focus on past events, dreams, vision, concrete stuff or abstract ideas. Diane Britton Dunham is inspired by her research and understanding of her family genealogy. Her mother’s Louisiana Creole and father’s South Carolina Gullah lineage crossed paths when the sons of Carolina landowners brought their rice growing skills to the Deep South. Diane spent several years studying the commonality woven between the culture of the isolated coastal Gullah communities and the widespread Creole populations. The end results are vibrant and vivid paintings telling a story of Diane’s diversified, yet, homogenous roots.

Katie Howell is a petite blonde with light green eyes and a warm smile that conveys both high energy and serenity at the same time. Katie takes the term ‘active lifestyle’ to a whole new level! This busy mother of two daughters under the age of three works part time on the nursing staff at Beaufort Memorial Hospital and has just opened a new business—Beaufort Running Tour.

Blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. Conversation momentarily halted, as Laura Kinsey struggled to express the emotions surrounding her packed daily schedule with Heroes on Horseback. She glanced down and then with renewed enthusiasm, “With all my years of riding and training horses, I never did therapeutic work before 2007 when I started with Heroes on Horseback. I am blown away by what it does!”

Michelle Gibbons is a vibrant young woman with a mission. As a personal trainer, she works with clients to design individualized goals in fitness, such as lifting more weight for strength (as in grandchildren), increasing lean muscle (not just losing weight), and improving daily functions, like balance and energy. She is enthusiastic about working with her students as individuals, each at different ages and stages. She accepts them as they are, and works as a cheerleader and coach to help them get to where they want to be.

Not married, but in a very committed relationship with an incredible man, Tim Lovett, and his two incredible children, Olivia and Henry. Oh, and I can’t forget about Hobie, our dachshund mix.

I love being a part of: A team! Whether it’s my “work team” or my “home team,” nothing is quite as fulfilling as knowing the part I play is very important, but my contribution is much less meaningful if my teammates aren’t working to the best of their ability! Being part of a great team pushes me to work harder and better.

My Dearest Friends-I have been writing this column for quite a while now and it has been my pleasure and privilege to meet so many wonderful women. It has also been my pleasure to honor these women and the organizations to which they belong and the causes they serve. Sure, it is simple to find the president or the winner of the Volunteer of the Year award for an organization. It is not so easy to find those who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Those unheralded angels who never make PINK or anything else and don’t really mind. I know many and I am sure you do to.

Charity Angels come in singles, doubles and yes, I have even written about a trio of them. In this case, however, I must give credit to quite a large group. This group of angels, simply called the Gala Committee, is head by longtime leaders Stan and Margie Smith. The group has both men and women from virtually every part of the Island and from a variety of professions; there’s a judge, a realtor, an interior designer, a Canadian snowbird, a tennis buff and many more, all working for the same heartfelt cause.

Charity Angels are alive and well, not just here in the Lowcountry, but also in spots around the world that you might never imagine. This is the story of 20 angels, who traveled to Haiti at their own expense, paying for or soliciting their own supplies and equipment and bonding together in ways they never dreamed possible. The team was composed of doctors, nurses, teachers and committed volunteers, all willing to put themselves on the line to do whatever tasks needed to be done. What a band of angels.

What I do: Design your favorite magazine each month!

What I love about what I do: My amazing team and I begin with nothing on day one and by day 30 we have tangible proof of our hard work each month. And… there is not much I love more than a well-designed page!

Dr. Cynthia Hayes (or Mama Cyn as she is called by some) grew up on a farm in Greeleyville, S.C.  She, her three sisters and her brother all shared one bedroom. The whole family would wake up at 4:00 a.m. and head out into the fields to pick cotton, using the headlights from the truck to be able to see. They worked until it was time to get cleaned up and go to school. I asked her if they were in bed by 6:00 p.m. She laughed, “We were still in the fields working. We worked from sun up ‘til sun down when we weren’t in school.” She recalls how they lived off the land, hunting, canning vegetables and taking hogs to the market for slaughter. They did not have running water or a bathroom in the house until she was in 6th grade. Once her grandmother came to live with them, her parents moved their bed into the living room. “We were poor, but I didn’t know the difference. It was a lot of hard work, but we had fun together. We were close.”

There are givers and there are takers in this world, and Dr. Lisa Drakeman is one of the givers. She has a beautiful, waterfront, Lowcountry home, and plenty of high-powered connections, but she is truly motivated by helping others and the never-ending need for philanthropy.

“She believed she could, and so she did.” These words encircle a painting of a semi-nude woman running through flames. This painting is in the office of Dr. Tracy Leaver-Williams, Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Hilton Head Regional Ob/Gyn Partners. She admits to being the artist, and is living proof of the quote as well. A tall, athletic woman with rich auburn hair, cut stylishly short, she shook my hand enthusiastically as we met. She was wearing a professional white top, but underneath were wild black and white checkerboard leggings with bright red lips scattered throughout. Red Mary Jane shoes completed the look—stylish, polished, with a little funky flair thrown in for good measure.

The Hilton Head Branch of the Beaufort County Library System is set back from Beach City Road in a beautiful setting of dappled sunlight and elegant bronze sculpture. As I enter I immediately see the Friends of the Library used bookstore. The generous donations of previously read books from library patrons and members of the Friends provide much needed extra revenue to support the library’s many programs.

Imagine growing up in an affluent and stable home, enjoying the privilege of an excellent education, training in dance, skating and languages, and then coming home one day to be greeted by the Nazis. Sophie Weisz was only 16 years old when she and her entire family were whisked away from their beautiful home in Romania to the ghetto, and subsequently to several concentration camps over the period of one year. After enduring many severe beatings, her father was exterminated at the first camp. At the second camp, Sophie and her sister watched their mother be dragged away. They never saw her again.

The sun shines brightly, sparkling the waves with a cloak of rhinestones. It’s another glorious day on the island! The wind blows steadily, making for tricky Frisbee flights, but the dogs still romp and the exercisers jog and stride along the foamy waterline. Sun worshippers work on their first-of-the-year tans and boys toss footballs, attempting fearless, sand-splashing catches, all the while looking over their shoulders to see if their prowess has attracted the notice of any bikini clad objects of their desires.

The sun shines brightly, sparkling the waves with a cloak of rhinestones. It’s another glorious day on the island! The wind blows steadily, making for tricky Frisbee flights, but the dogs still romp and the exercisers jog and stride along the foamy waterline. Sun worshippers work on their first-of-the-year tans and boys toss footballs, attempting fearless, sand-splashing catches, all the while looking over their shoulders to see if their prowess has attracted the notice of any bikini clad objects of their desires.

At 5:45 A.M., three times a week, 30-year-old Meredith Anderson leaves her house in the dark. She drives to the YMCA in Port Royal and joins ten like-minded souls to take the plunge into the 82-degree water, doing laps in four reserved lanes for the Beaufort Masters Swim Team. There is friendship and comradery in the hour-long workout, along with the goal to improve one’s time, form and strength, despite the age range from 18 to 80. Meredith is fast—very fast—with swim times that have again qualified her for Nationals this year.

What makes you laugh so hard you cry?  
Reminiscing with my brother about childhood memories. We can tell the same story over and over again and it never gets old. I sometimes laugh so hard I get stomach cramps!

The women instantly formed a bond during a fishing outing when they discovered each has symbolic tattoos. Amy Prater was the first to notice Sarah Molesky’s jagged black ribbon with the word “Kihelakayo” tattooed on her inner forearm.

Dr. Jami Feltner sure has a story. She is a living example of George Eliot’s theory, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” She is proof that if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams.

Caring for people is innate to Jami. Growing up in Cincinnati, she started college to be a nurse, with dreams of being a doctor always in the back of her mind. When her father fell ill, she diverted her path and helped out in the family business—a mortgage firm. While her father got better, her grandfather passed away. She remembers how the funeral director came to her family’s home, how he brought the family together, how he eased and helped them. Little did this fellow know, not only was he excelling at his job, he was inspiring Jami to make some changes in her life.

Working with heart, patience and flexibility are hallmarks of a dedicated volunteer. Phyllis Doyle has it all. Read on to meet a versatile and talented lady.