Gather all of your dull knives as well as your friends and make sure to visit The Coastal Cupboard because for one dollar per knife you can help to raise money for The Charleston Basket Brigade.

Brad Pitner, owner of The Coastal Cupboard, has announced that the store is hosting its renowned semi-annual Charity Knife Sharpening Event Friday, November 2, 2012 through Sunday, November 4, 2012 at its 644-J Long Point Road location in Mt. Pleasant’s Belle Hall Shopping Center.

We’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12 to 4 p.m. on Sunday and everyone in the Charleston area is invited to get their straight-edged knives professionally sharpened for a one dollar donation per knife.

Last year’s event was such as success that the store has doubled the amount of knife sharpening stations to accommodate the large crowds.

“We are so excited for our Charity Knife Sharpening event in a few weeks. We will have extra knife sharpening stations to provide our guests with the best experience yet!” said Pitner. “We are also so thrilled to raise money for The Charleston Basket Brigade. Every dollar raised at our event goes to buy food to feed families in need for Thanksgiving that other would not have a meal to eat that day.”

Pam Hartley, co-founder of The Charleston Basket Brigade said, “We are so thrilled to be a part of this popular event at The Coastal Cupboard. Its businesses like this in the community that really make a difference.  Every knife sharpened gets us that much closer to our $100,000 goal, so we invite everyone the community to come out!”

Pam and Michelle are so humbled to be included in this list — the success of the CBB is all about community involvement, and we are looking forward to another wonderful “giving back” season. We can’t wait for this issue to hit newsstands in November!!

We are so thrilled to announce that the Charleston Basket Brigade co-founders Michelle Scarafile and Pam Hartley are one of three finalists in the Community Catalyst category of the 7th Annual Giving Back Awards!

The Giving Back Awards is known as the Oscars of Lowcountry Giving! This event highlights the great works of businesses and people behind charities in the Charleston community. This year’s awards will go to individuals or organizations selected by a panel of judges in the following categories: Volunteer, Business, Community Catalyst, and Nonprofit of the Year.

“Michelle and I are so honored to be nominated for this award on behalf of the thousands of community members, business partners, friends and families that make this event happen every year. It would not be possible without the unwavering support and contributions of Carolina One Real Estate, Piggly Wiggly, Communities in Schools, my incredible team at Momentum Marketing and an army of selfless volunteers and donors. We all come together in the spirit of making Thanksgiving special for thousands of families in need throughout the Lowcountry and our concerted effort spreads gratitude in so many directions. It’s an amazing cause we’re proud to be a part of,” said Hartley.

“We truly believe that when a community comes together to make a difference, magic happens. The Charleston Basket Brigade is proof positive. We’re humbled by this nomination and share it with every single person involved,” added Scarafile.

The Giving Back Awards gala will be a televised red carpet awards ceremony (presented by TD Bank) on Friday, November 16, 2012 at the Charleston Music Hall beginning at 7pm. The event will be televised live on WCBD News Channel 2.

To purchase tickets and get more information on the awards, nominees and after-party visit, charlestonmag.com/givesback.

We are so thrilled to announce that the Charleston Basket Brigade has been named an official 501-(c)(3) non-profit organization.

With this official non-profit status, all donations for the 2012 fundraising effort and beyond are tax-deductible!

We have received overwhelming amounts of support from local businesses and individuals over the past four years, and we only hope that we will receive even more support with this new title and tax-deductible option.

This past year marked the largest CBB fundraising event yet which raised $75,000 that fed over 15,000 residents for Thanksgiving in 2011. But this year we ‘upped the ante’ and set our fundraising goal at $100,000 to feed over 20,000 residents (approximately 3,333 families).

Help us feed our neighbors that are in need this Thanksgiving. Click here (hyperlink: http://charlestonbasketbrigade.com/volunteer-your-time/) to learn how you can donate and volunteer!

Hartley said, “We’ve been so blown away by the fundraising efforts of this community; whether it is a group of kids having a bake sale or work colleagues throwing pocket change together. When you provide a family with food, a necessity that we often take for granted, it creates a moving experience for everyone involved.”

This year marks the highest fundraising goal yet for the Charleston Basket Brigade, and Carolina One Real Estate, Piggly Wiggly, Communities In Schools and Momentum Marketing have partnered with us to help raise money!

There are many ways you can get involved too. We are still accepting monetary donations and volunteers to assemble the boxes of food and deliver them to the receiving families.

The brigade is set for Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at the Charleston Area Convention Center, Exhibit Hall C beginning at 7 a.m. Click here to learn about donating and volunteering!

2011 promises to be a record year for us! The North Charleston Coliseum (with the support of the Mayor’s office) is donating 25,000 sq. ft. of space to serve as a central staging area for assembly and delivery on November 22. Sixteen prominent local businesses will be collecting “Change for Change” at their cash registers October 10 through November 11. Other local organizations, businesses and people in the community are holding several fundraisers to benefit the Basket Brigade.

We have partnered with Carolina One Real Estate, Piggly Wiggly, Communities In Schools and Momentum Marketing to help reach our goal along with the great efforts of hundreds of local volunteers and concerned citizens.

Carolina One staffers, agents and event volunteers raise money, assemble the meals at pre- set staging areas and deliver meals to the families. Communities In Schools, a non-profit dropout prevention organization with 27 counselors in 18 schools throughout Charleston and Berkeley County, locates the families that will receive meals based on need and maps out directions for delivery. Piggly Wiggly provides discounts on food, boxes, and delivers food to the preset staging area for assembly and delivery. Momentum Marketing (Hartley’s company) provides public relations, marketing, fundraising and event coordination assistance.

In the past three years, the Charleston Basket Brigade has raised a total of $63,990 and fed more than 12,000 local residents in need. This year’s goal is higher than the last 3 years combined, so we need your help to 15,000 people!

It only takes $30 to feed a family. The meal includes a 10-12 lb. turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie, fresh rolls and butter. Each family receives an anonymous letter inside the basket that reads “This comes to you from someone who cares about you. All we ask is that you take care of yourself well enough to be able to do this for someone else one day.”

Individual and corporate donations can be made online at www.charlestonbasketbrigade.com. All major credit cards are accepted and 100% of the donations go towards buying food. Donations and volunteers are needed. For more information, click here.

In previous years, each Carolina One office has coordinated it’s own assembly/delivery day.  Last year, we set up four staging areas thruout the Lowcountry and combined office efforts.  Due to the amount of food and deliveries growing exponentially, we’ve arranged for one central assembly/delivery area this year to make it easier for our food vendors and volunteers.

Assembly will happen the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (this year it’s 11/22/11).  We will begin at 7am, so that all of the assembly as well as the delivery will be completed by 4pm.  The mayor of North Charleston has gifted us use of 25,000 sq.ft. of space at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Click here to volunteer to deliver meals on the 22nd…

(click here for a map)

Close friends Pam Hartley and Michelle Scarafile began The Charleston Basket Brigade in 2008 with a commitment to bring the community together to provide Thanksgiving meals for families in need in Charleston, SC. “When we found out that there were children going to bed hungry right here in Charleston, we knew we had to do something about it,” said Hartley.

2011 promises to be a record year for the brigade. The North Charleston Coliseum (with the support of the Mayor’s office) is donating 25,000 sq. ft. of space to serve as a central staging area for assembly and delivery. A local non-profit organization called Giving Back Cheer is hosting a holiday soiree in honor of the basket brigade to raise $20,000 in November 2011. “Our goal is to raise $100,000 and to feed 20,000 residents this year,” said Hartley. “And with the assistance of so many incredible organizations and community members, that is a real possibility.”

Hartley and Scarafile met in 2006 during a leadership seminar held by Robbins and became fast friends. In 2008, Scarafile brought the idea to create a basket brigade to Hartley and they both quickly got into action. “I knew that Pam and I could really make a difference here in Charleston. When the recession hit, we knew that so many were impacted here locally,” Scarafile said.

This fundraiser would not be possible without the commitment of Carolina One Real Estate, Communities In Schools, Piggy Wiggly, Momentum Marketing and many caring friends, families and community members. “It only takes $30 to feed a family of 4-6 at Thanksgiving and we get donations from many sources, including friends and family members that live out of state,” Scarafile said, “$30 goes a long way.”

100% of funds raised are utilized to buy food. The $30 meal includes a 10-12 lb. turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie, fresh rolls and butter. Each family receives an anonymous letter inside the basket that only states “This comes to you from someone who cares about you. All we ask is that you take care of yourself well enough to be able to do this for someone else one day.”

2010 was a bench mark year with the introduction of the Piggly Wiggly Facebook fundraiser, initiated by Hartley. Piggly Wiggly agreed to donate $1 per new fan for one week and the response was overwhelming. After seven days, Piggly Wiggly  had 3,898 fans – more than double the company’s preset goal. The Facebook fundraiser created a groundswell of support from folks across the globe – even as far as Australia.  “We’re so grateful to Piggly Wiggly and everyone across the globe that participated in the Facebook Fundraiser,” added Hartley, “It’s social proof that when a company gives back to the community,  people truly ‘like’ that company for it.”

Christopher Ibsen, Director of Marketing for Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company said, “When you combine a grassroots fundraiser with a compassionate community and put it all together into the social media blender, great things can happen!”

Hartley, Scarafile, and more than 800 Carolina One staffers, agents and event volunteers raise money, assemble the meals at preset staging areas and deliver meals to the families the Tuesday before Thanksgiving each year. Communities In Schools, a non-profit organization with 17 counselors in schools throughout Charleston and Berkeley Counties, locates the families that will receive donations based on need and maps out directions for delivery. Piggly Wiggly provides discounts on food, boxes, and coordinates delivery of the food to staging areas throughout the Charleston area. Momentum Marketing (Hartley’s company) provides public relations and event coordination assistance.

The responses from families that receive a basket from the group are overwhelmingly appreciative and oftentimes tear-filled. One parent said emphatically, “Oh thank you, thank you so much, prayers really do get answered.”