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The Champion, Thursday, December 24 - 30,2015
LOCAL
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said, “This is about helping out.”
In recent years, O’Neal has
educated at-risk people, especially
children who are creating habits that
will last into adulthood, about how to
make healthy choices to live well and
delay, prevent or manage diabetes.
O’Neal said in a statement, “Chil
dren are the greatest priority and are
God’s gift to us and our future.”
National and local organizations
supported O’Neal’s cause by provid
ing school supplies for students,
coats and toys for children, healthy
food for families and educational
pamphlets on creating healthy life
styles.
DeKalb County Superintendent
Stephen Green said, “This really is
an outstanding job of feeding our
families and being an outreach to the
community.”
He said the event exemplifies his
core mission for the district which is
to “deal with the whole child which
includes the families; especially at
a time like this, during the holiday
when things may get tight—it’s a
good spiritual uplift.”
Green added, “It’s more than just
giving food and taking pictures—we
want students and parents to know
that we care about them, we care
about what happens to them and we
believe in them.”
Feeding America and Atlanta
Community Food Bank provided
fresh produce and 27 pounds of non-
perishable foods to each family.
Atlanta Community Food Bank
CEO Kyle Waide said, “This is a
great event. This is a great opportu
nity to connect families in DeKalb
County with nutrition and other gifts
and items that they really need in
this time of year.”
He added, “There are 900,000
food insecure people in North Geor
gia and metro Atlanta; nearly 40 per
cent of them are children. This event
is just one small way we can make a
dent in that huge need in our com
munity.”
Nonprofit Clothes4Souls and
Macy’s provided 300 winter coats.
O’Neal distributed children’s toys
donated by Toys “R” Us and Jakks
Pacific, Inc.
The American Diabetes Associa
tion provided healthy snacks and
local resource information, as well
as gave children an illustrated story
from the Calliou series that focused
on the broad needs of someone with
diabetes.
Novo Nordisk, a Danish multi
national pharmaceutical company
distributed children’s activity books
and pedometers.
Volunteers from local clubs and
business, as well as teachers and stu
dents assisted with handing out sup
plies to attendees.
Theo Ratcliff and Kevin Willis
assisted with the event through NBA
Retired Players Association. A local
Omega Psi Phi fraternity chapter, as
well as local Walmart representatives
also helped with the event.
Columbia Middle School Prin
cipal Keith Jones said, “This is very
important for the middle school. I
work in a population where some
of our students are afforded the op
portunities to come out and receive
items for free and their families aren’t
as fortunate to give them Christmas
items. I wanted to make sure that
I’m doing my part along with some
of the people I’m associated with to
give back to our community and our
kids.”
Children attending the Shaq-a-claus event received toys and took photos with NBA All-Star
and TNT Broadcaster Shaquille O’Neal.
A crowd gathered Dec. 15 to remember former sheriff-elect Derwin Brown and his wife Phyllis. Photo by
Andrew Cauthen
VIGIL
Continued From Page 1A
serve the county of DeKalb
as sheriff, we would have had
one of the best sheriff expe
riences that we have had in
years.”
Calling Brown a man
who believed in justice, Cart
er said, “He loved you, but if
you did wrong, he’s going to
tell you about it.
“This man—he certainly
left a legacy for many of us,
or all of us, to be able to fol
low in it,” Carter said.
Eric Hubbard, a field
representative/liaison in
Congressman Hank John
son’s office, said Brown was
“a friend and a brother to
the congressman and myself.
Derwin was a man’s man.
“We’re going to miss him,
Hubbard said. “We love him.”
“In the spirit of Der
win, let us get out there and
serve,” he said. “And men, let
us get out there and lead.”
Hubbard described Phyl
lis as “a sweet lady.”
“She was just so sweet in
the way she supported your
father,” Hubbard told the
family.
To the crowd that gath
ered at Dawn Memorial
Gardens on Glenwood Road,
where her parents are buried,
Brown-Rhodes said, “I know
personally that my parents
have touched a lot of you.
“I can remember he was
at commission meetings
fighting for raises that would
not affect him. They were
raises for the people that
were below him, underneath
his rank,” she said.
The legacy is continu
ing,” she said. “Let’s go back
15 years. I think the county
was in a much better place.
And after he was gone, to be
honest, the county has been
shot to hell.”