• Introduction
• The Homes, The Book
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The Homes, the book

A new book reveals the vision, hard work and heart behind a comprehensive care program for at-risk children.

As told in “It Made a Difference to That One: The Realization of a Dream to Save Needy Children Through Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina,” the dream came to A.D. Peacock, an undertaker in Whiteville, who in the 1940s was deeply touched by the feelings of loss children experienced when they lost a parent. He saw that in addition to emotional pain, a death could mean financial devastation or leaving a surviving parent so distraught or fallen that he or she became unable to parent.

Sometimes both parents would die, leaving the child an orphan. After witnessing firsthand an especially loveless family with seven hungry children, Peacock was galvanized. His commitment to help such families sparked the involvement of civic club members. Boys Home was born in 1956, when the first five boys were admitted to the Lake Waccamaw campus. In the 1970s, a second campus for boys opened in Huntervsille. In the late 1970s, people recognized the need for a similar setting for girls and began consolidating programs. In the late 1980s, the organization became Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina. A non-profit charitable organization, the homes continue to provide shelter, food, clothing, education, emotional support and guidance.

“It Made a Difference to That One” details Peacock’s quest in persuading people to help, telling how volunteers secured property and built homes at Lake Waccamaw in southeastern North Carolina. Chapters cover life at the Homes, leaders such as Lester Craft and R.N. McCray, and the passionate involvement by civic clubs including the Civitans, Lions, Jaycees, Rotary, Women’s Clubs and Optimists.

More than 3,500 kids have walked through these doors. They study, work and play together as they did 50 years ago. Historically, spiritual development has been a strong component and devotional meetings are still held on campus. The Exhibition Center, a 50,000-square-foot facility, hosts gospel, bluegrass, theater performances, car shows, rodeos, wild game cook-offs and more.

“It Made a Difference to That One” was compiled by the Homes staff and alumni. It contains 90 photographs and 80 pages and was published by Donning Company Publishers of Virginia Beach, Va. Copies sell for $29.95 each, plus $2.10 state sales tax (totaling $35.60). Shipping adds $3.55.

Send payments to Boys & Girls Homes of NC, Inc., Attention: Pictorial History, P.O. Box 127, Lake Waccamaw, NC 28450. To find out more, call (910) 646-3083, ext. 218, or visit
www.boysandgirlshomesofnc.com