The Angel Award
Rice Bowls is an "Angel"!
| Secretary of State Mark Hammond will name Rice Bowls an Angel Award recipient
on Wednesday, November 14, 2007, at a news conference held at the State House
Auditorium in Columbia.
“It is our privilege to accept this award on behalf of the 143 million
orphans around the world as well as the faith and love of those courageous
workers who daily serve them," remarked Richard Smith of Hope Point Community
Church, a member of the the Rice Bowls Board of Directors. “There is no greater
joy than to be a funnel of God’s mercy which has been showered upon us
all. We pray that this honor will produce a new revelation of need, a new
wave of compassion, and new ray of hope for these precious ones that we are
called and enabled to help.”
The Annual Scrooge and Angels ceremony recognizes some of the state’s best
charities each year when it comes to charitable giving, and highlights some of
the worst charities soliciting in South Carolina. |
| 
Rice Bowls receives 2007 Angel Award |
Local charity tops statewide 'Angels' list for good worksBy Trevor Anderson, Spartanburg Herald Journal
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Secretary of State Mark Hammond will name Rice Bowls Angel Award recipient
on Wednesday, November 14, 2007, a news conference held at the State House
Auditorium in Columbia.
“It is our privilege to accept this award on behalf of the 143 million
orphans around the world as well as the faith and love of those courageous
workers who daily serve them, remarked Richard Smith of Hope Point Community
Church, a member of the the Rice Bowls Board of Directors. “There is no greater
joy than to be a funnel of God’s mercy which has been showered upon us
all. We pray that this honor will produce a new revelation of need, a new
wave of compassion, and new ray of hope for these precious ones that we are
called and enabled to help.”
The Annual Scrooge and Angels ceremony recognizes some of the state’s best
charities each year when it comes to charitable giving, and highlights some of
the worst charities soliciting in South Carolina.
Christmas came early for a Spartanburg-based nonprofit that put 98.7 percent of its funding toward preventing hunger in developing countries this year.
Rice Bowls Inc., known for its use of plastic coin banks resembling rice bowls to collect spare change for orphanages around the world, was the best charity in 2007, according to the South Carolina Secretary of State's 12th annual "Scrooges and Angels" list, released Wednesday.
Fighting world hunger
"That certainly makes me feel good, but I can't take any of the credit," said Rice Bowls founder and area pastor Alastair Walker. "I'm just amazed at how the Lord has used Rice Bowls to raise millions to feed the hungry around the world."
Walker founded Rice Bowls in 1978 after returning from a missions trip to India, where he said he saw extreme poverty. Since its inception, the organization has raised about $30 million to fight world hunger.
Secretary of State Mark Hammond gave special recognition to Rice Bowls and the other nine "angels" at a reception Wednesday in Columbia.
"Rice Bowls is a wonderful, sound organization," Hammond said. "I'm pleased to honor them, and I'm pleased that they are a part of our state."
Katie Landon, director of program growth for Rice Bowls, accepted a plaque from Hammond at the reception.
"We were thrilled to be honored among other great organizations," Landon said. "It's a pleasure to be recognized for gift-giving effectively."
Other state charities that made the list included Bluffton Self-Help Inc. of Bluffton, Cooper River Bridge Run Inc. of Charleston, Cumbee Center to Assist Abused Persons of Aiken, Friendship Medical Clinic of Conway, Healing Species of Orangeburg and Scott Hannon Memorial Foundation of Irmo.
Good Works Inc. of Chapin was second on the "angels' list, as 98 percent of its funding was used for its mission.
Hammond listed a California group, Shiloh International Ministries, as his top "scrooge" charity. He said the group, which provides medical necessities to children and the disabled, put less than 4 percent of its funding toward its cause.
One South Carolina group, Children's Charitable Foundation of Anderson, made the worst charities list, as only 7.9 percent of its funding went to its mission.