For several decades, the Pine Island Club, located at 150 Pine Island Road, Columbia, SC, 29172, has been a spot for families and friends to gather and have fun with each other. The island has it all - two playgrounds for kids, tennis and volleyball courts, a clubhouse, a swimming area, a swimming pool, several docks and areas for boating/fishing, and several shelters to grill and cook out, right on the shores of manmade Lake Murray. Ever since the opening of the island many, many years ago, families come here to gather and have the time of their lives. My entire family has been on this island for almost their entire lives. My dad and his side of the family grew up on this island, I grew up on this island, and I planned on bringing the next generation of the family to this island all the time. 

• Pine Island Club was previously owned by SCE&G, one of South Carolina's biggest power/energy providers.
• Employees of SCE&G were promised among retirement a lifetime membership to Pine Island, where they could bring family, friends and have a good time. SCE&G knew how much the island was valued by the community, as it was home to countless weddings, celebrations, birthday parties and much more.

The problem:

• About a year and a half ago, SCE&G was bought out by a competitor company, Dominion Energy. Just a few short days ago, Dominion has announced to its employees that they will be permanently closing Pine Island. 
• This leaves the entire lake community in shock. The staff team that works on the island are also completely oblivious and were backstabbed by this corporate decision. The previous head council of the Pine Island Club is bewildered, seeing as all of their efforts to improve the island and its community have been all for nothing.
• Dominion has not stated its reasons to close the island, however, this closure is not related to or influenced by COVID-19, seeing as the island was never meant for a profit. 
• Word around the community says that Dominion intends to sell the island to another company, which will likely restrict public access to the island, and instead, expensive houses and condos would be placed on the island and the island will purely exist for monetization.

The solution:

• By signing this petition, this will show Dominion Energy that our community is strong and we will not back down due to corporate greed. The lake was meant for a fun place for families to enjoy their time together, not some corporate establishment meant to only make profit. 
• This action is a show of complete disrespect to all of SCE&G's previous employees, who worked their entire lives just to lose access to this amazing community and fun environment. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope I gained your support. I look forward to getting island access back to the community, where it really belongs.