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April 7 - 13, 2016 » Page 4A
For longtime DeKalb resident
Laresa Jones, volunteering is just
another way of building up and
improving life for others.
Jones, 43, has lived in the metro
Atlanta area her entire life and has
called DeKalb County her home for
several years. She graduated from
Southwest DeKalb High School
before heading to the University of
Georgia where she pursued degrees
in family and consumer science
as well as organizational work
development.
While Jones has earned her
paycheck through the Coca-Cola
Company for the past decade, the
majority of her free time is spent
volunteering with the Junior League
of DeKalb County. She serves as
the chairwoman for membership
development.
“What membership development
does is bring in new members,”
Jones said. “I’m very much a
champion in developing women and
that we, as a league, can be the best
that we can.”
Jones said the focus of Junior
League is to promote volunteerism
throughout the county and is
specifically aimed at women. Jones
helps promote, recruit and educate
interested women in joining the
group. She said the group will have
20 new active members by May.
“We do a lot of great work in
DeKalb County and are a voice for
DeKalb County,” Jones said. “But
I think the other piece that a lot of
people don’t see is that we develop
women, not just inside the league,
but provide things that translate to
everyday life: leadership skills, how
to run an organization, how to run a
better meeting, how to lead a group
of women.”
Jones said DeKalb Junior
League’s current mission is fighting
childhood obesity. She takes part
in and helps organize sessions
in which children and parents are
educated on healthy eating habits.
By going to farmer’s markets and
organizing pop-up farmer’s markets
where people learn how to make a
healthy salad, Jones said this effort
is producing results.
“They thought, ‘Salad isn’t
supposed to be this good,’ and I
said, ‘It can be,”’ Jones said.
Jones said the majority of her
service work is done through the
Junior League due to obligations
with Coca-Cola. However, she
makes sure she continues to be part
of the positive change happening in
and around Atlanta.
“I was born and raised here and
I’ve watched the metropolitan area
go through tremendous change,”
Jones said. “It’s rare to find someone
born and raised here. I really take
how our county grows and improves
seriously. I want to see DeKalb
Laresa Jones
County grow and prosper.”
Jones said she loves facilitating
such changes and seeing people’s
eyes light up through the Junior
League of DeKalb County’s efforts.
Chamblee creates safe meetup zone
On March 30, the city designated two downtown locations as “Online Exchange Zones” where the
public can meet to buy, sell or trade items. Photo provided
by R. Scott Belzer
sbelzer@dekalbchamp.com
It could happen to any
one.
An item, such as shoes
or car equipment, is wanted
and desired by an individual.
The usual channels of pur
chasing such an item are of
no use; the local store is out
or doesn’t carry a specific
model while the store requir
ing a day trip just sold out.
Friends suggest pur
chasing the item online.
Compared to hoofing
it and traditional shopping,
shopping online seems
like a revelation. The item
is found through a private
seller and a meetup is
arranged. Even though
websites such as Ebay or
Craigslist have their fair
share of bad press, it has
always seemed like a few
bad apples spoiling the
bushel.
The excitement, howev
er, drowns out voices warn
ing of potential dangers.
This is a stranger, after all,
and anything could happen.
The city of Chamblee
has taken steps to make
such a situation worry free.
On March 30, the city des
ignated two downtown loca
tions as “Online Exchange
Zones” where the public can
meet to buy, sell or trade
items.
The two areas, located
at the Chamblee Police De
partment lobby and nearby
parking lot, offer a place to
conduct business 24 hours
a day and seven days a
week through constant
video surveillance.
“In addition, police of
ficers will be available if
needed to stand by to in
crease everyone’s sense of
security,” reads a release.
“If requested, police officers
will check serial numbers
against stolen item data
bases in an effort to assure
they are not already report
ed stolen.”
In order to exchange
safely, users are instructed
to call the Chamblee Police
Department a few minutes
before their arrival.
According to Chamblee
Chief of Police Donny Wil
liams, the idea was pre
sented to the department
by councilman John Ma
son last year after seeing
a similar program in Holly
Springs.
“We’ve had it up and
ready to go for a while, we
just haven’t had the camera
system ready to go,” Wil
liams said. “Now that we
have that accomplished, we
have the site up and ready
to go.”
Williams said the prob
lem isn’t all that prevalent in
the Chamblee area but any
measure that guarantees
the safety residents is one
well taken.
“Occasionally, you may
hear that someone was de
ceived and things of that na
ture, but it’s rare that some
thing serious happens,” Wil
liams said. “Nationally, it’s
known that serious incidents
occur and we’re looking to
host a safe option and pro
vide transaction space in a
safe environment.”
Williams said zones
similar to the one in
Chamblee are a step in the
right direction for any police
department.
“If someone is up to
no good and looking to do
something serious, chances
are they will not complete
the transaction at a police
department,” Williams said.
Chamblee’s move to
make online transactions
safer does not come unwar
ranted. Last year, an Atlanta
couple, Elrey and June
Runion met Ronnie Towns
with the hopes of purchas
ing a 1966 Ford Mustang.
Rather than engaging in a
peaceful transaction, Towns
robbed and murdered the
Runions before dumping
them in a nearby body of
water.
Craigslist, possibly the
largest person-to-person
online market, engages in
hundreds of millions of post
ings and transactions per
year. Statistics provided by
a competitor in 2011 stated
330 crimes in the United
States took place via Craig
slist, including 12 killings, 31
assaults, 74 robberies, 52
prostitution cases and 161
“other” crimes.
A spokesman from
Craigslist told Fast Com
pany that same year “[It’s]
probably worth considering
we had over 573 million
postings on Craigslist last
year. What are the odds?”
In addition, Craigslist
states in its “Personal
Safety” section how “The
overwhelming majority of
Craigslist users are trust
worthy and well-meaning,”
as well as “With billions of
human interactions, the
incidence of violent crime
related to Craigslist is ex
tremely low.” The website
instructs users to meet in
public spaces, taking extra
precaution when selling
high-end items, taking a
friend and always carrying a
cellular phone.
The Chamblee Police
Department is located at
3518 Broad Street. For
more information, contact
the department at (770)
986-5005.