By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
Video by Cameron Brewer
HAMLET — Pam Easterling has always been one to make waves whenever the situation called for it.
On Thursday, the outgoing Richmond County Board of Education member put herself under one — albeit of the manmade type — to benefit a good cause.
Easterling, 56, avoided the warm waters of the lake at Big Pine Retreat in Hamlet and instead sat on a metal chair as James Croom and Roger Boone, of the Sandhills Alternative Academy, tipped over a 30-gallon can full of water onto Easterling as part of a viral social media campaign called the cold water challenge.
“They got it straight from the well,” Easterling said as she wiped the water from her face. “It was very, very cold.”
Children from the Sandhills Alternative Academy helped Easterling prepare for the occasion and encouraged her to don a hunter orange life jacket for additional safety, though the challenge was executed on the shore of the Big Pine Retreat lake.
But the act put the heat on Easterling’s fellow board members. After pledging $100 to the Richmond County Schools Education Foundation, Easterling challenged fellow board members Wiley Mabe, Dr. Irene Aiken, Tom McInnis, Joe Richardson and Cathy Wilson, along with newcomers Bobbie Sue Ormsby and Don Greene, to do the same.
Easterling said in a statement recorded on video that should any of those individuals choose not to participate, then they would be obligated to donate $125 each to the foundation.
If they accept the challenge, each board member is free to donate to the charity of his or her choice. Easterling, though, said she hoped they would choose the same foundation she did. She said each board member had 48 hours to respond to the challenge, and that she didn’t plan on letting much time pass before giving them notice.
“I’m going to post it to their Facebook pages,” Easterling said.
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