July Donor Spotlight: Rufus C. Barkely, Jr. Leadership Scholarship.

Rufus C. Barkley is the great grandson of the founder of the Cameron and Barkley Company and in his lifetime made a major contribution to the employees.  In 1975, Barkley began selling CamBar to its employees and by 1983, the company was 100% employee-owned.  As a result of this in the future when the company was sold the employees were the beneficiaries of the sale.  He also was an outstanding man in the community.  He taught children in the community the importance of spending time with loved ones.
The Rufus C. Barkley, Jr. Leadership Scholarship Fund was established in 2000 in order to provide up to four years if higher educational assistance to students who are residents of Charleston, Berkley, Dorchester or Colleton counties or who are children of Cambar employees who embody the characteristics of Rufus.
Rufus Barkley was a Renaissance man with interests that ranged from opera and ballroom dancing to neighborhood “pick-up” football and bush-whacking on his Colleton County property.  His son, Miles, summed it up – “If I can be half the person he was, I’ll be alright.”
Just before Rufus died of Lou Gherig’s disease in 2001, his friends, family and business colleagues at the family-run Cameron and Barkley Company started a scholarship fund to honor him.  Since then, The Rufus C. Barkley, Jr. Leadership Scholarship has provided five talented student leaders with $10,000 every year for four years to go to college and be inspired to emulate the integrity, compassion and vitality of this “genuine” man.