The Twenty First Annual MUSC Charity Ball to benefit:

1. The C.A.R.E.S. Clinic: The C.A.R.E.S. Clinic (Community Aid, Relief, Education, and Support) is a medical student initiated and managed non-profit organization that provides free, non-emergent, primary care every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6:30-9:00 PM at East Cooper Community Outreach in Mount Pleasant.

2. Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding: Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities by providing them with a safe, physically beneficial, and exciting experience at a nationally accredited therapeutic riding center. They want to start “A Leg Up for Children with Disabilities,” a ten week program that teaches children to interact positively with others as well as animals, overcome challenges, and how to reach their individual goals.

3. Crisis Ministries: Crisis Ministries provides a family center, men’s shelter, soup kitchen and food rescue program, health clinic, chaplaincy program, and social programs designed to help clients develop skills necessary to be successful outside of the clinic

4. East Cooper Meals on Wheels: East Cooper Meals on Wheels strives to deliver nutrition to residents of their service who are homebound or unable to provide their own meals, and to advocate on behalf of recipients whose needs exceed the scope of their programs. They are hoping to add four double-shelf rolling stainless steel food carts, eleven flat stainless steel preparation tables, and one rear upturn stainless steel table in order to prepare their 220 daily meals in a more efficient and sanitary manner.

5. Lowcountry Food Bank: Lowcountry Food Bank’s mission is to feed the hungry of the ten coastal counties in South Carolina by distributing healthy food and grocery products to the poor while educating the public about the problems of, and solutions to, domestic hunger. They wish to expand their BackPack Buddies program which provides low-income students with food and nutrition information each school weekend.

6. Rise Up and Read: Rise Up and Read reaches out to at risk children in the community in order to improve their chances for educational success. It targets elementary students that are one year below grade standards. It offers one-on-one tutoring two days a week that focuses on subjects they are studying in school. As the program grows, the need for books, supplies, and a laptop increases.