By: TUCKER MITCHELL
Published: August 08, 2011
Representatives of the Pee Dee Community Action Agency told Florence City Council Monday that the “Weed & Seed” program in north Florence is danger of imminent collapse without an infusion of funds from some source.
Walter Fleming, the PDCAA’s director, said the group was “near the end” and would have to close its doors soon without help. The group has received some private funding, but relies on Florence City and County for most of its help. The county recently paid for some repairs to the building.
“They’ve been very generous,” said the Rev. Mack Hines, who accompanied Fleming to the meeting, to plead the organization’s case.
Weed & Seed provides a variety of community programs out of its rented location in north Florence, but most are directed at providing children and youth with safe and wholesome activities. Fleming said between 45-50 kids participate in Weed & Seed programs during the summer, although when a Morning News reporter visited Monday afternoon, considerably fewer than that were on hand. Volunteers at the Weed & Seed center, located in a shopping center on Oakland Ave., said numbers were down because the program is in a limbo period between the 10-week summer day program and the start of the school year and the beginning of its after-school program.
Summer campers are charged $10 per week, but that’s a nominal fee “which barely covers supplies,” said Fleming.
Weed & Seed asked council for $75,000 two years ago — Fleming and company also said at that time that the doors were about to close — but council chose not to fund the organization then. Fleming said Weed & Seed would need about between $30,000 to $35,000 to keep it’s doors open.
Council members were sympathetic to the organization’s plight — council member Glynn Willis told Fleming that, “you have been heard” — but council couldn’t promise that any money would be available.
“Your budget problems are our problems, too,” said Mayor Stephen J. Wukela. “I don’t know what we can do. We’ll see.”
Councilman Steve Powers said that “the programs that Weed & Seed provides, and children they touch, is a great thing.” He suggested that council refer the request to its budget committee for review. Council constantly reviews the city’s fiscal position, especially its fund balance — it’s reserve — so that it can make additions or deletions to the budget as needed.
Wukela said, “There’s not a lot left (in the reserve, over and above what the city wants to keep on hand as a backstop). … And every time we say the word ‘fund balance’ (city manager) David Williams gets nervous. So we want to be wise in what we do here.”
Wukela said in an interview later that council might be able to provide funds for some equipment or other capital items — providing council agreed.
Council eventually voted unanimously to send the matter to its budget committee, and directed that sub-group to render a “speedy decision.”