Kids hold keys to caring

When opportunity knocked for a group of Mount Pleasant 'tweens, they found the key to unlock the door.

The kids, too young to volunteer at Crisis Ministries, came up with another way to give: They decorate painted metal keys, sell them at $5 a pop, then donate the money to the shelter.

Since September, when they started Keys for Hope, they have collected more than $11,300.

Their goal is to raise the $1 million Crisis Ministries needs to complete its new shelter.

"Crisis Ministries is building a new shelter, and it's going to be a lot safer and cleaner than their old one," said Clara Pilley, 10. "They still need $1 million more to build it, so we're helping them raise the money."

"We've still got a little bit to go," added Sophie Estoppey, 10.

In October, Crisis Ministries broke ground on the $6 million shelter, scheduled to open in 2013, that will house the community soup kitchen, men's dormitory, dental and medical clinic and counseling facilities.

"And if we make $1 million, we'll keep going," said Emily Hearn, also 10. "They're always going to need money. They'll always need something."

Finding the key

Clara's mom, Sheri Pilley, has always involved her children -- Clara and Matthew, 8 -- and their friends in her work for Crisis Ministries, where she has been on the board for seven years. Four years ago, their first project raised funds to build a playground and garden at its Transitional Living Center.

They visit the shelter periodically, but don't meet the minimum volunteer age of 14.

"The problem became, how do a bunch of 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds make a difference with the homeless shelter?" Pilley said. "So they've been raising money. There's no age limit to raising money."

Crisis Ministries Chief Executive Officer Stacey Denaux applauds their creativity.

"They were able to find a way to make an impact," she said. "They have been doing this from a very early age and they have such an innocent approach. Obviously there's the financial aspect from the money they've raised, but more important than that is the awareness that they are creating among the next generation of leaders."

Every year, the kids come up with new ways to be involved. When they heard the shelter was $1 million short, they wanted something new and big.

"We needed an idea because we thought, 'We can't just ask people for money,' " Clara said. "We needed to sell something and give them something in return."

One day in a craft store, the idea came: decorated keys, which "symbolize shelter and hope," Clara said.

The group -- which also includes Ellie Shuck and Emma-Grace Spach, both 10, and 8-year-olds Natalie Shuck and Olivia Estoppey -- started meeting a couple of times a week in Hearn's garage-turned-workshop in RiverTowne Country Club, where they turn on music, eat snacks and create, create, create.

Their mothers paint the keys, which are "mis-cut" or otherwise unusable and donated by Royall Ace Hardware, East Cooper Lock and Safe, and collections at school and from individuals.

The kids embellish them with beads, charms, buttons or other little tchotchkes.

The finished project is attached to a card, printed gratis by Allegra Printing, that says, "This very special key symbolizes 'shelter' and was hand- designed by kids who care about Charleston's homeless."

Keys to selling

They started selling them at their schools, East Cooper Montessori and Pinckney Elementary. Kids bought them to wear around their necks and on their book bags.

Soon, other friends joined in to help make them, including the Pinckney student council and youth groups from East Cooper Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Presbyterian.

"They are definitely working their way around town," Pilley said. "It might be the next LiveStrong bracelet."

They sold keys at holiday events, at Second Sunday on King Street and at the Charleston Farmers Market.

"They're driving this," Denaux said of the youngsters. "They very much own it. Of course, their parents have to be involved and supportive, but when you see them out there selling, the moms are in the back and the kids are taking the money and talking about Crisis Ministries."

The Estoppey girls sell them during Sunday brunch at Leaf, the downtown restaurant owned by their father, Pierre Estoppey.

Wonder Works, which has locations in Mount Pleasant, downtown and West Ashley, also carries them.

"That really gave them a sense of 'Wow! This is real. This is not just arts and crafts,'" Denaux said.

Wonder Works owner Christine Osborne often supports young entrepreneurs.

"This is a group of passionate, incredible kids who understand the value of a home, the value of community and the value of what they can do that can make a difference," she said. "I see a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of kids, teens and adults with ideas and these kids hit the nail on the head: For $5, you can help fund Crisis Ministries. It's so easy to do that."

Osborne said some customers bought as many as 10, planning to give them to friends. Real estate agents have also bought them in bulk for their homebuyers, Pilley said.

Shelter employees wear keys. Even Mayor Joe Riley has one.

Key to the future

"We don't know where we're going with this," Pilley said. "Right now we're just raising money, but we feel like eventually it might spread. When we're out there selling, people come up to us from other states and talk about what a good idea it is."

They are registering Keys for Hope as a trademark and looking for other places to sell them, donors to supply the embellishments the moms now buy, and a better way to paint the keys. The Art Institute of Charleston's graphic symbolism class will design a logo and brochure for the project this semester.

"What I really love is watching the kids as they inform the community about what Crisis Ministries is," Pilley said. "So many people think of Crisis Ministries just as a soup kitchen or just as a shelter. Most importantly, they help people get self-sufficient again, and that's what I think most people don't realize. These kids have been talking the talk, telling everybody that will listen. And when kids tell the story, people give."

Reach Brenda Rindge at 937-5713 or www.facebook.com/b.rindge.