Home Again  

Current Amount Raised 

Lets get the momentum going!  I have kicked off the fundraising with a $100 contribution.  I will match the first $1,000 donated and then hope to have other donors that match donations.

There are other ways to donate.  You go into any one of the 2,100 BB&T branches and make a deposit to The Starfish Project’s account.  If you use electronic bill pay the information for that account is bank routing number 053201607 and account number 5225362140.  Checks can be made out to The Starfish Project and mailed to 1758 Wachesaw Road, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576.  All of the account information is set to The Starfish Project, which we did a couple of years ago.  I don't want to change it all over a name.

A mutual friend, George Barr, who knew that we both had suffered strokes introduced me to Deborah Dorland three years ago.  Since that time, I have watched a series of events unfold in her life.  

I watched her rebound from her stroke.  I have a good idea what it took to do that.  I’m happy to have played a small part in it, but the credit is all hers!  I watched her learn how to draw again and do her art with her left hand, no small feat.  I watched her grow amazing things in pots in a parking lot that look like they came out of the finest vegetable garden, and I have learned to love her indomitable spirit!  I watched her rally the other nursing home residents in good times and when they were up to their knees in floodwater in their wheelchairs, and I learned of her big heart.

I watched her suffer at the hands of Mother Nature during a 1,000-year flood.  I watched as circumstances put her life out of her control.  I watched as she failed to qualify for some assistance, was hours away when most of the flood relief help took place and passed her by, and was offered solutions that don’t meet her needs.  I watched her handle all this with grace.

You can read her story here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ralph-preston/home-again/1762758330412605/

Recently, she expressed a desire to get back into her house and I’ve decided it is time for me to stop watching and help her get her life back.  So, I’m going to raise the money necessary to fix her house. I will work with a contractor to insure that licensed professionals due the plumbing and electrical work and anything else that should be done by contractors.  I will coordinate any local volunteers and her friends that want to help her by working on her house.  I will do whatever it takes to help Deborah get home again. I would like to ask you to help me.  The simplest way to do that is to donate. 

If you would like to participate, contact Ralph Preston at 843.947.0010 or email ralph.preston@sc.rr.com

Project Tasks (coming soon along with total budget)