Greenville Honors Those Who Give Back

The Charitable Giving Awards recognizes the individuals and companies that have made an impact through their goodwill and dedicated service to the Upstate community. Sealevel was a proud sponsor of the Community Spirit Award presented to an outstanding local nonprofit. This year, Greenville First Steps was selected for the award.

Nearly one in seven S.C. children are assessed as not ready for first grade. Greenville First Steps charter is to facilitate a collaborative community partnership for improving the early childhood development of all children in Greenville County. A primary goal is to support families as their child’s first and most important teacher, to ensure children enter school on track and ready to succeed. Since their inception, Greenville First Steps has helped nearly 340,000 of South Carolina’s children and their families get ready for school.

Sealevel’s Vice President of Brand Strategy, Sarah O’Hanlan Beasley, presented the award to Greenville First Steps executive director, Derek Lewis. “Giving back is very important to Sealevel,” says Sarah. “We applaud the efforts of Greenville First Steps and encourage others to do whatever they can to improve our community.”

Clemson University’s head football coach, Dabo Swinney, and his wife Kathleen were among those honored for their charitable work. Their All In Team Foundation is a major supporter of The Family Effect, an organization working to reduce addiction as a leading cause of family collapse and harm to children. Sealevel’s President, Ben O’Hanlan, serves with Dabo on the board of directors for The Family Effect.

Seeing the large turnout for the Charitable Giving Awards was very encouraging. The event organizers did a great job—Morgan Freeman even did the voice over for the presentation video! Greenville and the entire Upstate area is a growing, vibrant place to live and the quality of life is improved through the efforts of many of the people that attended the event.