Carraway Memorial Park receives $2,500 donation from power company
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Darlington public park planned to memorialize Sgt. Terrence Carraway and all of his fellow law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty received a major boost last week as Pee Dee Electric Cooperative (PDEC) donated $2,500 to the cause.
Jeff Singletary, VP of Marketing with PDEC, said the donation is part of a corporate program designed to help citizens in need and support good causes throughout their service area.
“We also do donations to non-profits or any kind of organization that support the community. Terrence was a member of Pee Dee Electric, so this works both ways where we can support his family and the community as well.”
Local businessman Curtis Boyd, who purchased the park site at South Main Street and D Avenue and donated its use to the Terrence Carraway Foundation, said construction efforts should kick into gear soon.
“Evans Construction is going to start the dirt work within the next month. All the South Carolina Department of Transportation work has been approved, the permits have been approved, the engineering drawings have been completed by Ervin Engineering and they did the footwork to get those approved for us,” said Boyd.
Plans for the park include a monument naming all 394 fallen South Carolina officers, a statue of Terrence Carraway, a basketball court and picnic area.
“That way people can come and enjoy it,” said Boyd. “That’s what Terrence would have liked, I think.”
Donations for the park (collected through the Pee Dee Fraternal Order of Police) now total over $13,000. Once the Carraway Foundation’s status as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 charity is officially finalized, other donations – including a $5,000 pledge from the City of Darlington – should move that total even higher.
“We just want to thank you on behalf of my husband and our family,” said Allison Carraway, Terrence’s widow. “We will make sure that this goes toward (remembering) all of the fallen officers in South Carolina.”
To learn more about donating to the Terrence Carraway Foundation, peedeefop.org.
