About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2017)
Friday, October 13,2017 Lake Oconee News Page A13 GREENE COUNTY Five earn inaugural REACH scholarships Dave Brown dave@lakeoconeenews.us Who says there are no second acts? Greene County philan thropist Tom Kelly, who already enriched society by sponsoring dozens of area youth and guiding them to college degrees via the Greensboro Dreamers, is at it again. Kelly has spearheaded Greene County joining the REACH Georgia, and five five-star 8th grade recipi ents have been named to its inaugural class. “We want this to be a unifier for the county,” said Kelly. “The nice thing about what we’re doing with REACH is we’ve already getting donations through out Greene County, and all three middle schools are being represented. “My goal is over the next nine years to get 45 kids in REACH. Twenty will be in college and 25 will be in the eighth through twelfth grade.” The five inaugu ral REACH students in Greene County named Publix Continued from A1 shortly. “The added space will bring a broader selection of products to our customers,” said Reid. “We are also expandingthe pharmacy to include a conve- nientdrive-through window.” According to a recent article in Atlanta Business Chronicle, Publix was a pio neer in online grocery shop ping, piloting curbside pickup in thelate 1990s. Butitwasn’t as profitable as the company hoped, andits online ordering was extremely limited until 2016, when it launched a collaboration with Instacart. In June, Publix made a public commitment to offer Instacart delivery in all of its stores throughout the Southeast by 2020. Reid pointed out that at this point, Instacart is not available in Lake Oconee. “Publix Curbside is a ser vice where customers can after a rigorous selection process in a competitive situation including live interviews last May are Monica Abarca Sanchez of Union Point Steam Academy, Zanobia Brown of Carson Middle School, K’zon Dennis of Carson Middle, Arie’una Long of Lake Oconee Academy and James Ramirez of Carson Middle School. The previous achieve ments and future commit ments of the five inaugural REACH students in Greene County will be celebrated Tuesday at the Board of Education meeting room at 5 p.m. Parents of the REACH students are antici pated to attend the function in what promises to be an emotional and uplifting event. REACH (Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen) Georgia is a needs-based college schol arship program that begins in the eighth grade. The program began in 2012, but this is the first year Greene County has partic ipated. Over 100 counties in Georgia already partic ipated in REACH. order groceries online and pick it up in bags at the store. Thatserviceisbeingtestedin Florida right now,” said Reid. “Once we complete the test, we hope to roll the ser vice out to more markets. However, Publix Delivery is a service that we are currently rolling outto all of our service areas. “Unfortunately, we are not in Greene County yet, but please feel free to check with us periodically to see if there is an update. We will alert the media as soon as Publix Delivery is available in this area.” Reid said workers at the local Publix deserve credit for the hard work they put in when the power was out in the area. “Our customers appreciate it when we are able to keep our doors open during diffi cult weather. They rely on us to be there when possible,” said Reid in an email inter view from Marietta. “That’s why we plan ahead by scheduling advance ship ments of the items that Reynolds Continued from A1 Greene County. “I’m not completely famil iar with the numbers - it’s still too early to tell - but it will add greatly to the tax base in this county and pro vide more resources for this government,” said Johnson. Commissioner Ernie Filice made the motion to accept consideration of the request made by Oconee Land Development, LLC. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Angela Dearing and passed unanimously. In other Board of Commission business han dled during the brisk meet ing that lasted less than one-half of an hour, a third- party operator contract with Thorne Transportation was unanimously approved, as was a resolution to declare surplus property. The surplus property, which came in the county’s clutches through asset for feiture, included a2009 Ford Explorer, as well as a 2009 Ford F-350. Kelly, who was an exec utive in Chicago-based Baxter International and New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson before retiring and moving to Greene County, saidlocal donations would return on a 25:1 basis and provide millions of dol lars in scholarships to local students. Kelly is helping raise the initial $2,500 for each local student. Kelly points out the beauty of the REACH pro gram is that students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average and have both good behavior and attendance through high school are awarded scholarships up to $30,000 spread over four years, as well as an extra $40,000 from HOPE and Pell Grants. “If we get 45 students from Greene County over a nine-year period getting $70,000 in scholarships, that’s over $3 million,” said Kelly. “It all starts with a $2,500 donation to a student from a generous community that we know will benefit from what we’ve done with the Dreamers.” customers need like water, ice, batteries, bread and milk. We also work with our associates by encouraging those who can get to work to do so while understanding that not everyone can get to workwhenroads are flooded or power is out. ‘We appreciate the hard work our associates put into planning and responding to the storms we experienced in the past few weeks. We can’t always promise to be open when a storm hits, but we will do our best to be there for our customers in good weather and bad.” Tom Kelly has seamlessly transitioned from the Greensboro Dreamers to the REACH Program. Dave Brown/ Staff CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE October 14th; 16th - 20 th 20°/o OFF Entire Store* During Open House #PETAL IT FORWARD GIVE A FLOWER - RECEIVE A FLOWER FLORIST r . (§ 646 Old Phoenix Road^gl Eatonton, Ga 706-484-0 ‘Excludes fresh flowers, live plants and|custom f ordefs' lnAPtococq For those times when you need to see what’s going on inside. Do I have breast cancer? Do I have a slipped disk? Is there plaque in my arteries? Am I having a stroke? Your most important health questions may be more than skin deep. At St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, our high-tech imaging capabilities can help your doctor get the answers you need. The region’s only ultra-fast 64-slice CT scanner. 3D Digital mammography. Digital x-ray. Bone density scanning. Doppler ultrasound. Schedule your 3D mammogram. Visit stmarysgoodsam.org or call 706.389.2700. ST. MARY’S Good Samaritan Hospital A Member of Trinity Health 5401 Lake Oconee Pkwy, Greensboro, GA I stmarysgoodsam.org SIEMENS
