HAMLET — In addition to being the first-ever title sponsor of the 40th annual Seaboard Festival, REV Federal Credit Union recently made a substantial donation to the Hamlet Depot and Museums.
The check presentation was made Oct. 28 on the main stage early in the Sand Band’s set during the festival.
Seaboard Festival Board President Chris Carpenter said the financial institution wanted to donate to a charity in addition to the event sponsorship and asked the board to select the recipient.
“We talked about it as a board — this festival was founded 40 years ago with the mission to promote the history of the railroad in Hamlet, as well as Hamlet’s history as a city,” Carpenter said. “And if you’re from here, you know Hamlet was built on the railroad.
“So we thought the best charity to give this to would be the Hamlet Historic Depot.”
Carpenter said it seemed like a perfect fit.
REV CEO presented a check for $6,000 to Depot and Museums Director Mechelle Preslar and Angie Averitt from depot’s board of directors.
“We would not be successful if it wasn’t for businesses giving back to the community,” Averitt said of the group of volunteers who make up the small nonprofit.
Carpenter said the “large investment” from REV as a title sponsor allowed organizers to provide entertainment and make other changes to the festival.
Carpenter went on to say that this year’s event featured the most vendor booths and runners in the 5k race in festival history.
“We had a lot of the most we’ve ever had this year,” he said.
