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PAGE 30D
> FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28,1 W»
United Way helping community
through its 15 member agencies
By Beth L Chester
Staff Writer
-As leadership of the United
Way of Forsyth County charts a
course to the year 2000, the agen
cies funded under its umbrella
look forward to serving the
needs of Forsyth Countians well
ipto the 21st century.
Having been officially bom in
Forsyth in the early 19905, the
United Way of Forsyth County
has progressed with great strides
since its inception.
Year after year, fund raising
efforts of campaign volunteers
have netted ever increasing dona
tions.
The 1999 campaign ended late
last year, with record pledges
totaling almost $580,000.
Already, local United Way board
members have met to award the
funds to the 15 agencies it serves
and have begun preliminary plans
for the 2000 campaign.
But despite the banner year of
donations, United Way of Forsyth
leadership began the new year
with great sadness and mourning
for the loss of the agency’s exec
utive director, Terry Borges.
Borges had served as the United
Way director for 18 months when
he died suddenly in February.
According to United Way of
Forsyth County President Ann
Crow, the organization’s 1998
success is owed in large part to
Borges, who she said made a
tremendous impact in the short
time he served.
. “Terry had the biggest heart of
.anyone I’ve ever known. He
loved what he was doing, and
people naturally responded to
that. He was a gentle heart, and
he will be missed,” Crow said.
Crow credits Borges with mak
ing the United Way of Forsyth
Safety Town seeks volunteers, supporters
Safety Town, a nine-day summer camp for children
about to enter kindergarten, was held for the first time in
Forsyth County last summer. The camp’s purpose is to
• teach youngsters about safe living at home and elsewhere.
Representatives from the Sheriff’s Office, fire department,
electric company and other organizations took turns visit
: ing Safety Town during each session to conduct demon
strations on accident prevention.
Several local businesses and organizations contributed
funds to Safety Town, which paid for the construction of
the miniature“Forsyth County,” consisting of small build
ings set on a tarp with road designs. Other funds helped
pay for the Kett cars - small, rubber-wheeled cars the
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more visible in the community
and causing people to give will
ingly of their time and resources:
“He was just a great ambassador
for the United Way.”
The search for someone to
replace Borges ended in mid-
March, with the appointment of
Ruth Goode as executive director.
“Terty’s foot steps are hard to
fill, but we’ve selected someone
who has established her own rep
utation in our community,” Crow
said. Goode’s leadership of the
Family Haven shelter for abused
women “turned that struggling
agency around,” Crow said, and
helped create an agency which
now meets the needs of many
battered women and their chil
dren.
“She is a good person and a giv
ing person, and her vision for the
future impressed us greatly. Ruth
has shown that she knows how to
go that step further, to look into
the future and take us there suc
cessfully.”
The mission of the United Way
of Forsyth County has always
been to bring the community’s
resources together, linked as one,
to serve the whole.
Crow says she is hopeful 1999
will bring the message and spirit
of the United Way into the pub
lic’s consciousness and cause
even more local residents to
either volunteer their time at a
preschoolers use to “drive” around the town.
According to Lori Komorek, director of Safety Town,
there is always a need for volunteers to help with the chil
dren. And of course, the program could always use mone
tary donations.
“We always need donors,” said Komorek. “Anyone
who’s interested in helping us can always keep us in mind
for the next year’s program.”
For more information on Safety Town, call Lynn
Hendrix at the Forsyth County Department of Parks and
Recreation, (770) 781-2215.
Safety Town is a national program established in more
than 1,000 communities since 1964.
ARTS & COMMUNITY
United Way of Forsyth agency or
help provide financial support.
“These agencies are there to
serve everyone. We never know
what’s going to happen, and any
of us can be in need,” Crow said.
“Too many people think the
United Way agencies are there
for ‘other’ people. They don’t
realize that battered women are
classless, for example, or that tor
nadoes can strike anyone, and the
American Red Cross would be
there to help.”
The Boy Scouts, The Girl
Scouts, and the 4-H Club, all
supported locally by the United
Way of Forsyth, are “some of the
best organizations in the world to
teach leadership skills to all our
youth,” Crow said.
Other agencies which receive
financial assistance from the
United Way of Forsyth County
include: Georgia Highlands, pro
viding health care regardless of
ability to pay; Family Relations
Program, providing treatment for
victims of child sexual abuse;
The Place, offering emergency
food and clothing; Hands Across
Forsyth, providing food and toys
to the needy at Thanksgiving and
Christmas; Cumming/Forsyth
County Council on Youth, advo
cating for the county’s youth; No
Longer Bound, counseling adult
male substance abusers;
Challenged Child, teaching
preschoolers with special needs;
CASA, court appointed special
advocates for abused and neglect
ed children; Literacy Volunteers,
teaching adults to read and write;
and Sojourners’ House, offering
temporary shelter for homeless
families.
For more information on how to
become involved with the United
Way in Forsyth County, call
(770)781-4110.
t
Hands Across Forsyth assisting families
By Terry Davis
Correspondent
United Way agency Hands Across Forsyth has been
assisting financially strained residents in the commu
nity for the past 10 years.
Hands Across Forsyth is mainly responsible for
supplying food baskets during the Thanksgiving hol
iday and providing Christmas toys for those in need.
Director Pam Kolaski has been with the non-profit
agency for four years and heavily relies on volun
teers to accomplish the agency’s goals.
Each year, the Sawnee Woman’s Club organizes
Thanksgiving baskets under the direction of presi
dent Holly Powell.
“They are a huge help. I don’t know what we’d do
without them. Other members of the board, the Rev.
Herb Flanders and Norma Malone, as well as volun
teers Rebecca Stewart and Kathy Schneider, contin
ue to make each project successful,” says Kolaski.
Another big helper to the agency is Lanier United
Methodist Church. The church and its pastor, Herb
Flanders, sponsor several families and allow Hands
Across Forsyth to use the church facility.
“We are trying to get our board of directors built
back up - so many people have moved away,” says
Kolaski.
This year, 200 baskets were given to needy fami
lies, each containing a gift certificate for a turkey,
some nonperishable food items and a bag of potatoes
and apples. Schools throughout the county collect
food items for Hands Across Forsyth. So does
Kroger and many small businesses.
Kolaski says needy families find out about Hands
Across Forsyth through many resources, including
the Department of Family and Child Services,
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Georgia Highlands Medical Center, the United Way
and the Forsyth County News.
“Next year, we would like as many people as possi
ble to find out about us,” she says.
The toy drive is handled two different ways. People
in the community can sponsor a particular family
and receive a wish list, or they can purchase items of
their choice and donate them to the agency.
“Wish lists usually total $100,” says Kolaski. 4
Local businesses in the area are used as drop-off
places for donated toys. The Forsyth County News
prints these locations prior to the holiday.
Families or individuals in need of assistance can
fill out an application at Lanier United Methodist
Church.
School supplies are provided for in a different man
ner.
“We work with school counselors to determine
which children need help with school supplies,” says
Kolaski.
Hands Across Forsyth has announced plans for a
Golf Tournament fundraiser, with an exact date to be
announced in the near future.
According to Kolaski, “Hands Across Forsyth was
started with the intention that the entire community
come together and help the needy in a vast, orga
nized way.”
Seasonally, volunteers or families in need can con
tact Hands Across Forsyth by calling (770) 781-
8846 or by writing to P.O. Box 1788, Cumming, Ga.
30128.
The agency is currently seeking volunteers to help
with applications and toy and food distributors. To
volunteer, call Lanier United Methodist Church at
(770) 887-0615.
Photo/submitted
Food for The Place
The Midway Elementary
School student council
conducted its 16th annu
al food drive to benefit
The Place. The five-day 3
food drive netted The
Place some 2,000
canned and boxed food
items. Left, students in
Shelia Phillips’ class.
This group was one of
the top five classes to
collect the most food.