Maude's Angels

To make a request to Maude's Angels or to become a Maude’s Angel, please contact the Maude's Angel network.

One Super Weekend, I was sitting in a rocking chair outside one of the dorms talking with a student when he mentioned that he would be interviewing for a job in Charleston and wasn’t sure where he would stay.  15 years after letting Jamie Rhodes stay at my house on Folly Beach and borrow my iron for his interview shirt, he is one of my best friends within this Foundation.

About two years later, the Executive Secretary, Mrs. Elton asked me if a student could ride with me on my way back to Charlotte from Super Weekend as the Scholar needed to go to Lancaster.  That early Sunday morning road trip led to Ryan Sneed being one of my dearest friends.

My stories of helping a fellow Byrnes brother or sister are just a few of MANY from other Scholars, Foundation Directors and Executive Secretaries.  Most of us know nothing or very little about how much the Foundation Directors and Executive Secretaries have quietly helped Scholars throughout the years.

We as a Foundation are unique in that we don’t just aid students with financial help.  We are family helping family and it goes way beyond just the four years of college.

When Mom & Pop Byrnes began this Foundation do you think they truly had any idea that it would continue on as it has for the past 63 years?  With having no children of their own, the Scholars were their children and as Pop Byrnes said in the accompanying quote, he and Mom Byrnes wanted Scholars to know that they were there to help them while in college and beyond.  While Pop Byrnes was the public face of the Foundation, you have to think that Mom Byrnes was the quiet force behind the everyday help, the support and the outreach that they gave to the Scholars.  Judge Mallard shared with me that “Mom Byrnes, well, she just got things done!” 

With that being said, the Scholars Board is happy to present a new endeavor honoring Mom Byrnes and putting a formal name to something that has been quietly done year after year since 1948 by Mom and Pop Byrnes, by Foundation Directors, by Executive Secretaries, by Alumni and even by current Scholars….this endeavor is Maude’s Angels.

Maude’s Angels is a network of former Scholars who will be on an email distribution list to receive information concerning a need for an item or service that a current Scholar or even an Alumnus may have.  Anyone who is a Maude’s Angel can assist those in need by providing the item in need if already on hand, if they’d like to help purchase it or if they have a friend/family member who may have the item or who may assist with the item. Maude’s Angels can also assist by helping secure a service like dental work, finding a doctor, giving a ride to someone, letting someone in need stay in your home, or by networking with friends and family to help fulfill the need.

Again, it will be family helping family. This is not a new concept within our Foundation, just a way to broaden the network of those who are able to help a Byrnes brother or sister in need.  This is a program that will allow Byrnes’ Scholar spouses to be involved if they so desire and will allow you to call upon your family and friends should you think they could help with a need at hand.  There are many within our family who are unable to attend the Byrnes’ functions throughout the year due to geographic constraints, other commitments, or maybe they just don’t feel connected in that way to attend.  This program is a way for those Alumni to reconnect by helping someone who has been in their shoes before…to help a brother or sister who can then pay it forward one day by helping another within our family.

We are excited to honor Mom Byrnes with this new program and hope that you will join us in doing so and in turn, help others within our Byrnes’ family.

To make a request to Maude's Angels or to become a Maude’s Angel, please contact the Maude's Angel network.

Carrie F. Pergerson
1992 Scholar – Byrnes Scholars Board President