Refuse the stigma, live the hope. Silent Samaritan is a success

On April 11, despite a steady rain, more than 160 enthusiastic supporters of Scotland Family Counseling Center were greeted by lively music from the Jim Morgan Jazz Trio at the breathtaking Southern Dream event venue in Mason’s Cross for the annual meeting of the Silent Samaritan Society. Michael Taylor and his crew once again outdid themselves to provide a delicious, abundant meal, and Katie and Bill Satterwhite, our out-of-town speakers, provided us with insightful personal experiences that broadened our vision of what refusing the stigma, living the hope actually looks like.

This year’s chairpersons, Mary Jo and David Adams, worked tirelessly to pull together a truly magical evening. Co-chairs Flora and Guy McCook also took on exceptionally impactful roles in the development of the many details, as did Whit Gibson, Mary Neil Thompson, Donna Kelty and the rest of the Silent Samaritan Committee.

The Silent Samaritan Society of Scotland Family Counseling Center, so-called because individuals who support the counseling center do so anonymously, meets only once a year, but its impact is felt daily by the staff and clients. Not only does this meeting supplement our needs financially in categories and ways that allow us to function smoothly operationally, but gifts from this event also create the base for the Cheryl Wood Client Aid Fund. This fund is the foundational tool that allows us to provide professional, exceptional, faith-integrated mental health care to the under- and uninsured who come to our door for help. Because of the Cheryl Wood Client Aid Fund—because of Silent Samaritans—we are able to say “yes” to those in financial need.

Starting in January of ’24, an all-new and separate effort was begun to reach out in an organized fashion to the business community, offering them what was termed “gentle recognition” rather than the anonymous status of individual donors. Guy McCook, David Adams, and Whit Gibson provided exceptional leadership to a powerhouse committee composed of other business leaders who canvassed our corporate community.

Are you curious about what “gentle recognition” looked like for our business supporters this year? Our own Amy Dial and Donna Kelty, working closely with Mary Ann and Drew Sledge at Quick Copy, created hundreds of “picados” (think “fiesta flags”, like at a Mexican restaurant) with the logos of each of the 34 businesses who agreed to a degree of recognition; there were several who chose to contribute but also opted to remain “silent.” Strings of colorful picados festooned the lovely dining hall at The Southern Dream and decorated each table, and each business logo was displayed in the centerfold of the program for the evening.

Scotland Family Counseling Center has never hosted such a successful event, in every aspect of the word. The attendance numbers were outrageous, the generosity of in-kind donors, unprecedented; and the amount of financial support can only be viewed as an incredible endorsement of the work we do, and shall continue to do, in an ever broader, always intentional way, keenly aware of the charge we have been given to “bring hope to the hopeless”.

As I have said many times before, the people of Scotland County SHOW UP to offer support — financial and otherwise — to those of us in local non-profits; the Spirit of Giving is as pervasive here as the air we breathe.

Thank you to all who worked creatively and diligently to provide our guests with such an enjoyable evening. Thank you to all who chose to support Scotland Family Counseling Center during this Silent Samaritan season, with time, talent and treasure. And thank you to all who trust us with your mental health. Serving you is our richest privilege.