Herlong supports kids' camp, mentoring program

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Humanitarians are admired for their contributions of time and money to their communities, and Gus Herlong, president and COO of Palmetto Garage Works L.L.C. (PGW) and this year's Tire Business Tire Dealer Humanitarian award winner, is no different.

He has chosen a handful of nonprofits to focus his contributions in an effort to make a deeper impact.

"I don't want to be a mile wide and an inch deep, making no impact. Because if I gave 1,000 people $100 donations, how far is that going to go, versus eight?" Herlong said, adding, "It can be much more impactful with these eight or 10 partnerships. I can see results happen. We're changing the organization versus just being all over the place."

In addition to hosting donation events for local food banks, blood drives and car giveaways, Herlong has been a major donor to Camp Cole and Original Design, two Columbia-area nonprofits making a difference in children's lives.

Herlong and his family are founding donors of Camp Cole, which provides a fully accessible campground for children and teens with disabilities and serious illnesses.

For a child with challenges, attending a camp with other children with similar struggles can have a major positive impact. That was the impetus for the creation of Camp Cole, which is staffed by volunteers who provide a venue for organizations catering to children and teens with disabilities and medical issues.

The campground has no stairs, doors are power-operated, the walkways are wide, and the pool has a zero-entryway.

"So that way when we have a group like Camp MDA for children who have muscular dystrophy, where we have a very high volume of our campers in wheelchairs, then they're able to access every area of camp," Executive Director Kelsey Carter said.

The camp was the brainchild of Carter and Director of Development Margaret Deans Grantz. The 40-acre camp outside of Columbia is named after Carter's brother, who died from cancer at age 11.

Carter said a few months before he died, they both attended a camp for cancer patients and their siblings. "So I got to see Cole go to camp and have one of the best weeks of his life," she said.

"Our mission is really to provide children, teens and adults with chronic illnesses, disabilities and life challenges, the incredible opportunities to experience camp. So from 2018 to 2020, we raised over $10 million to build the campus," Carter said.

The camp has been in operation since 2021 and has served more than 3,000. This year the camp expects to serve about 1,900.

Grantz is a long-time friend of Herlong, so when the camp was getting organized in 2018, she asked Herlong for help.

"The thing about Camp Cole is it was never been done before in South Carolina, so people really had to trust us and believe in us. And Gus and his family came on board immediately to be a part of that. And the portico at Camp Cole, which is where all the buses and cars and everything come through to drop the campers off, and surely their first experience at Camp Cole is getting out of their car, is named for Midas and the Herlong family," she said.

"Even on top of the capital campaign and getting us started, Gus has continuously believed in Camp Cole and provided scholarships and sponsorships for kids to be able to go to camp, because there's such a financial burden to our campers that are experiencing a disability, illness or life challenge," Grantz said.

"Camp is not only hard physically due to their disability or illness, but also financially to take that on. And so the continuous support not only of just getting camp started, but also providing those camp opportunities is really what makes the support even greater because he believed in it from the beginning.

"He also still believes in it now and continues to help those campers get to experience the magic of camp."

Herlong has helped introduce camp administrators to other businesses who would be interested in giving back to the community, she said.

The camp boasts a state-of-the-art medical care facility, with staff experienced in treating the various medical needs of the campers.

Campers are dealing with various challenges, such as sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, cancer, craniofacial differences, Tourette's, cerebral palsy, rare chromosome disorders, hearing impairments, etc.

Each camp is run by different organizations, so some campers can attend an event for free or for a charge. But every camper gets a scholarship to camp, whether it's a full or partial scholarship, Grantz said.

The camp is open year-round for various organizations to hosting events, retreats and week-long and overnight camps.

The camp features a welcome center with a conference room, a multi-purpose room, a cafeteria and kitchen; 13 cabins to accommodate about 200 overnight campers; and a new activity center, which the Herlongs helped establish.

The 20,000-sq.-ft. building houses a gymnasium, a sensory gym, a library, breakout spaces, arts and crafts rooms, a staff lounge, an archery movement studio and yoga theater.

The camp has a farm program where children can interact with goats, chickens and horses; gardening; a turf field for sports and team-building activities; and a waterfront area for fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming and sandcastle building.

"It's very much a typical camp experience that just serves really unique populations that typically don't get to experience camp. And we really strive to be a continuation of their health care, whatever they're receiving outside, so that they can continue to get the care they need, but also get to experience some of the same things that their peers get to experience," Grantz said.

"So it's really magical and incredible to see groups of people come together that have the same disability, illness or life challenge, to be able to connect with one another, to allow them to know that they're not alone in what they're experiencing.

"So many times, they're the only one in their church, their neighborhood, their school, that has whatever their challenge is, but to come together in a place like camp really gives them the chance to try new things and grow in confidence and just be themselves for a little bit," Grantz said.

One of the many organizations that plans to use Camp Cole for one of its events is also a recipient of Herlong's generosity — Original Design.

Original Design is a nonprofit "that helps really everyone live in their original design that God created for them. So it's faith-based and mainly serving children in South Carolina," Founder and Executive Director Jay Urich explained.

Founded in 2020, the organization has provided more than 70 children, ages 8 to 12, with year-long mentorships. Each year 15 to 20 children are paired with a mentor with whom they meet once a month, as well as participate in group programs, athletic events and all-day camps.

"We made our partnership with him very early on, when he was in his infancy of starting this and seeing it grow to what it is now has been really cool," Herlong said.

"He's teaching kids how to budget. He's teaching kids sports. He's teaching kids mannerisms in different settings or shopping, like the proper way to budget while shopping, not just grabbing toys.

"It's definitely the smallest program I've partnered with, but it's seeing significant impact, and he hopes to expand into some of the other areas," Herlong said.

Some of the topics discussed are budgeting, generosity, hygiene and conflict resolution.

"We want, 10 years down the road, our kids knowing, 'I remember at Original Design, I learned that Jesus defines me, not somebody on the internet who might be talking bad about me or whatever.' And so hopefully, the skill sessions, partnered with the identity piece, come together and we're able to have an impact on the children," said Urich, who met Herlong while he was getting the nonprofit started.

"What we're doing with Original Design aligned a lot with his heart to give back to the community and to help kids. So that's sort of where I started. We just met and then he's been gracious and very generous to Original Design and to me as a friend, as well," Urich said.

Herlong sponsors one of the camps, covering the expenses so the event is free for the campers, mentors and parents. He also provided Midas-branded t-shirts and soccer balls for a recent event with a women's soccer team.

"The summer camp that he sponsored this year was on budgeting, and so (he sponsored) all the budgeting materials we needed for all the campers and mentors, from teaching the session, hiring the person to come teach the session, the application of the session, to go and actually put their budget to use by going to get back-to-school outfits," he said, noting that Herlong also connected him with other people who could help with Original Design projects.

"So it goes beyond just his giving, but it's in his heart to really make an impact through other ways as well, and serving, too. He's out there. He's not just writing a check, but he's out there. He'll come out to the camps to see the kids and interact, which I think is really awesome," Urich said.

After PGW opened its new, expanded headquarters building in downtown Columbia a few years ago, it opened up its community room to host Red Cross blood drives open to the public.

The company will host its fifth blood drive over the course of two years this December.

Herlong encourages customers to donate by offering a free oil change of any type. Employees who participate receive an extra PTO day.

John Dieu, vice president of finance and strategy at PGW, also oversees the blood drive campaigns.

He said the company is planning to host blood drives at its other locations as well.

"I would say we usually average about 28 units (of blood donated). It fluctuates, obviously, especially in the summertime when the (nearby University of South Carolina) school's out.

"So we do get a lot of students that come in and will donate, and we actually have a lot of repeat people that will donate all the time, because they just love it," he said.