Families Helping families
GIVES JOY
For 35 years, Palmetto Project has partnered with WIS News 10 and the Midlands community to bring holiday magic to more than 75,000 families through Families Helping Families (FHF). Beginning in 2024, we expanded the FHF model to help our local Midlands children in need start their school years with the supplies to succeed.
Getting Involved
SUPPORTING LOCAL FAMILIES
Back-to-School Supply Drive
Beginning in 2024, Palmetto Project extended our Families Helping Families model beyond the holiday season to ensure that hundreds of Midlands children in need could start the school year with the supplies to succeed.
In 2025, our annual summer back-to-school supply drive will provide 1,000 backpacks with school supplies for low-income children in our community.
You can help!
HOLIDAY ASSISTANCE
Since 1990, Palmetto Project has provided the magic of the holiday season to thousands of low-income families, senior citizens, and adults with disabilities in partnership with WIS News 10. Our incredible community of donors has made the Christmas season merry & bright for than 75,000 total families in the Midlands.
Help us continue this special tradition for the next 35 years.
Stay tuned for how you can help us give 3,500 families a merry Christmas in 2025!
Adopt a Family
WHO WE SERVE
Families with children under 18
We serve children for back-to-school and at Christmas.
- Must be low-income (up to 150% FPL)
- Must be referred by a partner agency
(Ex: DSS, early interventionists, school social workers, or other approved community partners)
Adults with Disabilities
We serve adults with disabilities at Christmas.
- Must be low-income (up to 150% FPL)
- Must be referred by a partner agency
(Ex: DDSN, Able SC, The ARC, etc.)
SENIOR CITIZENS
We serve senior citizens at Christmas.
- Must be low-income (up to 150% FPL)
- Must be referred by a partner agency
(Ex: HUD housing units, Senior Resources, DSS, etc.)
What we do
How We Help Families Thrive
Backpack & School Supply Drive
We believe that every child should have the pencils, paper, books, and other tools and supplies they need to succeed in school.
That’s why we launched our annual summer backpack and school supply drive in the summer of 2024. We provided 500 backpacks for low-income children in the Midlands so they could start their school years ready to learn.
Holiday Assistance
We help make the season merry & bright for families who are most in need of holiday magic.
By partnering with 80+ community organizations, nonprofits, and social service agencies, and our incredible Midlands community, we streamline holiday giving for low-income families, adults with disabilities, and senior citizens – and empower our social service agency partners to focus on their missions.
Financial Stability
In addition to special gifts, our holiday giving efforts help feed, clothe, and nourish our neighbors across the Midlands.
Our donors and sponsors also provide our families with basic necessities like soap, shampoo, socks, underwear, and winter coats. And families often receive giftcards to grocery stores so they can be fed over the holidays.
Create hope
What Drives Us
OUR WHY
Families Helping Families (FHF) is a partnership between the nonprofit Palmetto Project, which has been committed to improving health, social, and economic outcomes for families in South Carolina since 1984, and WIS News 10.
We believe that everyone in the Palmetto State deserves to be as happy, healthy, and prosperous as possible. And we believe that innovation is the pathway to progress.
Together with WIS News 10, Palmetto Project innovated FHF as a new model for holiday giving in the Midlands in 1990. As a trusted community organization, FHF has created a business-like approach to holiday assistance. We have centralized the giving, family adoption, logistics, and distribution processes to make it as efficient and effective for everyone.
More Information
Frequently asked questions
Who we serve
Our holiday giving program serves low-income families with children, senior citizens, and adults with disabilities.
Qualifications
All recipients must reside at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
How it Works
Social service agencies refer their clients to us, and we take care of the rest in partnership with WIS News 10.
Get Involved
We rely on the incredible generosity of resources and spirit throughout the year to power FHF.
You and your family, civic organizations, employers, churches, or other social groups can volunteer to support us for shopping, distribution, data entry, or the holiday telethon!
Upcoming Events
Tuesday: July 29, 2025
Drop-Off BEGINS: Backpacks & School Supplies
- 4500 Fort Jackson Blvd., Suite 150
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- 8am – 6pm
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Friday: August 1, 2025
Drop-Off ENDS: Backpacks and School Supplies
- 4500 Fort Jackson Blvd., Suite 150
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- 8am – 6pm
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THANK YOU!
Thank you WIS News 10!
We are so grateful for the support of our media partner and longtime friend to Palmetto Project & FHF, WIS News 10,