Tara Hall Home for Boys, Coach Rick Barnes
As reported by local Channel 13 News and SCNow.com
GEORGETOWN - Jim Dumm has seen God's work in many different forms over 40 years at Tara Hall Home For Boys.
But this summer, a call seemingly "from heaven" changed Dumm's world--and that of the 12 boys who currently call Tara Hall home.
"(It) was just miraculous for us," said Dumm, executive director of the rural Georgetown County home for underprivileged youth. Dumm had spent much of the past few years, and the first half of 2011, wondering how he could help with the upkeep of running the home with outdated residence hall facilities and furniture that his boys used that was well past its prime.
"We had to modify programs and cut back in different areas," said Dumm. "The beds were about 15 years old and were handmade out of wood. The box springs and the mattresses were pretty well-worn. They were about 10 years old," he said.
That, plus worn-out carpeting, peeling paint, and even old TVs that only got three or four channels--and slack donations--made for a dim outlook at times.
But that all changed in June when Dumm said he got the call that changed everything--from a woman named Candy Barnes. She was visiting a hair salon while she and her family vacationed in DeBordieu Colony, and read about Tara Hall's plight in a magazine. When she told her husband, former Clemson University and current University of Texas Men's Basketball Coach Rick Barnes about it, they decided to help out.
Dumm said Barnes called and within days was on-site at Tara Hall with a contractor friend and plans to re-floor, re-paint, and generally make-over the entire residence hall. It all culminated over Labor Day weekend, when Barnes and other volunteers helped move new furniture into the dorms.
"They just really are dedicated to seeing that these boys have a first-rate chance at everything," said Dumm, who still can't help but smile on Tara Hall's fortunes lately.
In a quick phone conversation Thursday morning, Barnes told News13 he didn't want any publicity for the deed, and he and his family were inspired by what Dumm and his staff are doing at Tara Hall. Barnes brought his son to help and to spend time with the youths at the home this summer, and Dumm said Candy Barnes has also come by to spend time.
The new furniture inside the residence hall includes new beds for the students and the adult staff, along with new sectional couches and high definition TVs for the lounges. Dumm said Barnes even threw in satellite TV service and separate TVs so the boys could play video games in the lounges and in the rec hall. There are also new pool tables and tables and chairs in the rec hall, new floor coverings throughout, and coats of fresh paint on walls everywhere you look.
"Now we don't have to worry about the upkeep much, the day-to-day things," said Dumm.
Barnes will speak during a special open house event at Tara Hall on Thursday evening, October 6, at 7:00 p.m.
For more information about Tara Hall Home For Boys, call (843) 546-3000.
GEORGETOWN - Jim Dumm has seen God's work in many different forms over 40 years at Tara Hall Home For Boys.
But this summer, a call seemingly "from heaven" changed Dumm's world--and that of the 12 boys who currently call Tara Hall home.
"(It) was just miraculous for us," said Dumm, executive director of the rural Georgetown County home for underprivileged youth. Dumm had spent much of the past few years, and the first half of 2011, wondering how he could help with the upkeep of running the home with outdated residence hall facilities and furniture that his boys used that was well past its prime.
"We had to modify programs and cut back in different areas," said Dumm. "The beds were about 15 years old and were handmade out of wood. The box springs and the mattresses were pretty well-worn. They were about 10 years old," he said.
That, plus worn-out carpeting, peeling paint, and even old TVs that only got three or four channels--and slack donations--made for a dim outlook at times.
But that all changed in June when Dumm said he got the call that changed everything--from a woman named Candy Barnes. She was visiting a hair salon while she and her family vacationed in DeBordieu Colony, and read about Tara Hall's plight in a magazine. When she told her husband, former Clemson University and current University of Texas Men's Basketball Coach Rick Barnes about it, they decided to help out.
Dumm said Barnes called and within days was on-site at Tara Hall with a contractor friend and plans to re-floor, re-paint, and generally make-over the entire residence hall. It all culminated over Labor Day weekend, when Barnes and other volunteers helped move new furniture into the dorms.
"They just really are dedicated to seeing that these boys have a first-rate chance at everything," said Dumm, who still can't help but smile on Tara Hall's fortunes lately.
In a quick phone conversation Thursday morning, Barnes told News13 he didn't want any publicity for the deed, and he and his family were inspired by what Dumm and his staff are doing at Tara Hall. Barnes brought his son to help and to spend time with the youths at the home this summer, and Dumm said Candy Barnes has also come by to spend time.
The new furniture inside the residence hall includes new beds for the students and the adult staff, along with new sectional couches and high definition TVs for the lounges. Dumm said Barnes even threw in satellite TV service and separate TVs so the boys could play video games in the lounges and in the rec hall. There are also new pool tables and tables and chairs in the rec hall, new floor coverings throughout, and coats of fresh paint on walls everywhere you look.
"Now we don't have to worry about the upkeep much, the day-to-day things," said Dumm.
Barnes will speak during a special open house event at Tara Hall on Thursday evening, October 6, at 7:00 p.m.
For more information about Tara Hall Home For Boys, call (843) 546-3000.
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