About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2015)
Page 6A LOCAL The Champion, Thursday, April 2 - 8, 2015 JORDYN WHITE Weed While volunteering with her church serving the homeless, 18-year-old Jordyn White noticed that many homeless people carry their items in small bags and grocery carts. This inspired her to focus her senior project on collecting and distribut ing rolling suitcases to the homeless. “I thought it would be nice if they could just have one suitcase so they could put everything else in there that they carry,” the Decatur High School senior said. White set a goal to col lect and distribute 100 roll ing suitcases from Feb. 8 to Feb. 28. She has collected nearly 70 suitcases so far, and although the deadline for her class project has passed, she still plans to con tinue collecting suitcases. White is no stranger to helping others. She volun teers with the Atlanta Food Bank and with her church, where she assists in toy drives, vacation Bible school and she feeds the home less on Candler Road every Tuesday. She also has volunteered with a teen program at the Atlanta Aquarium, at Truly Living Well Center for Natu ral Urban Agriculture Inc. in Atlanta and at Camp Diva— a camp for overweight girls. White said she volunteers because she likes giving back to people. “The people that I help impact my life as well,” she said. “I learn from them, and it makes me realize that I’m blessed.” White, who plans to at tend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), said one of the rea son it is important for teens to get involved in the com munity is because it comes in handy when applying for college scholarships. “When you’re looking for colleges you won’t leave your community service section blank,” she said. “It will also help you connect with more people and it will lead to many more opportu nities and it’ll change your life for the better.” White has applied for multiple scholarships and she said her volunteering helped her get accepted into FAMU. If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthen at andrew@dekalbchamp.com or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117. Longtime DeKalb officials Morris Williams and Chris Morris announced their retirements days apart. Photos by Andrew Cauthen High-ranking county officials announce retirement by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalb champ, com Two longtime DeKalb of ficials announced their retire ments March 24. Morris Williams, the county’s deputy chief operating officer over the infrastructure group, announced his immedi ate retirement in a three-sen tence letter to interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May. Williams said, “Please accept this as no tice of my retirement effective March 24, 2015. My last day of work will be today, March 24, 2015. “I would like to thank the citizens of DeKalb for the op portunity to serve them for the past 17 years,” Williams said. Williams started working with the county in 1997 and, in addition to working for May, served during the administra tions of former DeKalb CEOs Liane Levetan and Vernon Jones and suspended CEO Burrell Ellis. Williams was chief of staff for the Board of Commissioners when May became interim CEO in 2013. In August 2013 May ap pointed Williams to the deputy chief operating officer position to replace Ted Rhinehart, who left in April 2013. As deputy chief operating officer, Williams was respon sible for the county’s roads and drainage division, watershed department, parks and recre ation, libraries, and facilities management, extension service, fleet management, public works, sanitation and transportation divisions. Williams’ retirement comes four days after the retirement of James Chansler, the county’s former watershed management director. Chansler will work part-time until June as the de partment transitions to a new leader. Director of Human and Communtiy Development, Chris Morris, in a March 24 let ter to Luz Borrero, the county’s deputy chief operating officer for development, Morris wrote, “Please accept this letter as an official notification of my intent to retire from my position as the director of the human and com munity development depart ment, effective April 30, 2015.“I am grateful to have been part of a team that has served the citi zens of DeKalb County, business partners and stake holders for approximately 38 years,” Mor ris wrote. “Additionally, it has been a privilege working with dedicated employees throughout departments in the county and especially employees of the hu man and community develop ment department.” Since 1979 Morris has been responsible for the administra tion of the Community Devel opment Block Grant Program, the HOME Program, Neighbor hood Stabilization Program, the Emergency Shelter Grants Pro gram, and “other funds received by DeKalb County to improve the housing and living condi tions of low to moderate income persons,” according to the coun ty’s website. Congressman opens 2015 student art contest Rep. Hank John son (GA-04) will host the 2015 Congres sional Arts Competi tion, an annual event displaying the com munity’s finest young artists. Since 2007, Johnson has awarded $252,000 in arts schol arships to more than 30 Fourth District stu dents at his art compe tition events. Eligible high school students throughout the dis trict, which include parts of DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties, are encouraged to ap ply and display their talent in this year’s contest. Entries must be designed according to the specifications in the competition guidelines, which can be found at Johnson’s website: hankjohnson. house.gov/ serving- you/art-competition. Each district hon ors its winning art work by hanging it in the tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol build ing in Washington, D.C., for a year. The 2015 Congressional Art Competition win ner from the Fourth District will also re ceive transportation Johnson for two to Washington, D.C., for the ribbon cutting event to unveil all the 2015 winners. In addition to hav ing their artwork at the Capitol, winners of the competition will be eligible for college scholarships from the Art Institute of Atlanta ($10,000, $5,000 and $2,500) or the Savan nah College of Art and Design ($1,500 per year). All art entries must be received in the Congressman’s dis trict office, located at 5700 Hillandale Drive, Lithonia, Ga. 30058, Suite 120, on April 20-21. For additional information email Eric Hubbard at eric.hub- hard@mail.house.gov or Xeron Pledger at xeron.pledger@mail. house.gov or call (770) 987-2291.
