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PAGE 4A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 30. 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2010
11am to 1:30pm
Pickens County
Chamber Building
III
2010 search for Golden Deed
Award winner begins
By Vivian Murphy
This year will mark 25 years
that the Pickens County Retired
Educators Association (PCREA)
will honor a Pickens County res
ident with an accumulated record
of selfless, unpaid service to
his/her fellow citizens who de
serve recognition. This recogni
tion is acknowledged through the
organization’s Golden Deed
Award which is presented annu
ally at the PCREA December
meeting.
To qualify for the Golden
Deed Award one must: a) be liv
ing and at least 50 years of age;
b) have lived in Pickens County
at least 5 years; and c) have made
significant contributions toward
the betterment of Pickens County
without financial recompense.
Many citizens in Pickens
County are deserving of recogni
tion by the Golden Deed Award;
however, a person cannot be so
recognized unless he/she is nom
inated. Individuals, clubs,
churches, friends or family are
urged to nominate one or more
persons.
The Pickens County Retired
Educators Association will ac
cept nominations from the public
through Saturday, November 13,
2010. Nomination forms are
available at the Pickens County
Library, all in-town banks, the
Chamber of Commerce, and
from any member of the Golden
Deed Award Committee listed
below.
Nominations are not judged
by PCREA, but by a panel of
judges representing local civic
organizations and the Chamber
of Commerce. The nomination
form accompanying this article is
a sample form only. All nomina
tions must be filled out on an of
ficial nomination form. All
adequate information should be
provided to give the judges a
complete verbal picture of your
nominee. Nomination forms
must be postmarked or delivered
to a member of the Golden Deed
Award Committee by Nov. 13.
The Golden Deed Award
Committee for PCREA is com
posed of Gerald Allen, 21 Dog
wood Avenue, Jasper, Ga. 30143;
Vivian Murphy, 109 Preserve
Parkway, Ball Ground, Ga.
30107; and Nancy Hammer, 302
Quail Walk, Jasper, Ga. 30143.
Contact any of these for nomina
tion forms and/or additional in
formation.
The Golden Deed Award for
2010 will be presented at the
Dec. 8 meeting of PCREA. Any
former employee of any educa
tional system is encouraged to at
tend the meetings of Pickens
County Retired Educators Asso
ciation.
St. Vincent de Paul Society
renews heating fund now
By Jeff Warren
The local arm of the St. Vin
cent de Paul Society is firing up
its Community Heating Fund for
this fall and winter. The Society
operates its heating fund pro
gram from October through Feb
ruary, giving help in cases of
need where homes would go un
heated without that assistance.
Outgoing president of the St.
Vincent de Paul Society in its
local conference, Jack Marcacci
said 700 families applied for So
ciety assistance of some kind last
year. The elderly and disabled
are served first, he said.
The Society cooperates with
Cool Springs Baptist Church,
with the CARES food pantry,
and with the benevolence com
ponent of Big Canoe Chapel in
serving needs of the local poor,
Marcacci said.
"Sometimes we don't always
have enough money to do it by
ourselves, and so we do it to
gether," he said.
Under the Society's Commu
nity Heating Fund, it will pro
vide propane heating fuel, where
there is a verified need, by pay
ing for 100 to 150 dollars' worth
of gas, Marcacci said. "The only
way we can help the number of
people we do is a minimum fill
and one time a year," he ex
plained.
The Society can also keep the
heat on by covering a single bill
for electricity or natural gas,
Marcacci said.
Often clients in need of heat
ing fuel are referred to the St.
Vincent de Paul Society by offi
cials of North Georgia Commu
nity Action, Marcacci said. That
local agency distributes govern
ment money to relieve heating
needs of the poor, he said, but is
sometimes faced with emer
gency needs that slow-grinding
wheels of government cannot
help in time.
In such cases, Community
Action often relies on the St.
Vincent de Paul Society, which
can respond more quickly, Mar
cacci said.
His advice to folks who think
they might come up short this
winter in paying for heating fuel
is to apply for government help
right away. "If they think they're
going to have trouble, they
should contact North Georgia
Community Action early," he
said. "That's because it takes a
while to process it [a heating as
sistance request], and sometimes
they're out of money."
North Georgia Community
Delta Kappa Gamma Beta Eta
Chapter begins new Biennium
Photo courtesy of Heritage Propane of Jasper
Outgoing president of the local St. Vincent de Paul Soci
ety, Jack Marcacci. The Society’s Community Heating Fund
helps the needy with heat through the winter by footing the
bill for utilities and propane fuel.
Action is housed in the same
building where Pickens County
MATS busses are based, Mar
cacci said. That is across State
Highway 53 from the Jasper City
Cemetery, he said, near Jasper
Middle School. The office of
Community Action is at the back
of the building, he added.
Money the St. Vincent de
Paul Society uses for relief of the
poor comes from individual do
nations and contributions put for
ward by businesses, Marcacci
said. Yearly, the Trouts Charity
Golf Open raises money it di
vides among five local charities,
Marcacci said. "We share in
those proceeds, and the money
goes to the Heating Fund, he
said. "Last year we got $3,000."
Though based from Our Lady
of the Mountains Catholic
Chinch and with mostly Catholic
believers in its ranks, the St. Vin
cent de Paul Society remains a
stand-alone entity, Marcacci ex
plained. "The Society is a sepa
rate organization," he said,
helping Catholics and non-
Catholics alike. "It is not part of
the church hierarchy. Even
though we operate out of Our
Lady of the Mountains, we are
independent. It's a Catholic lay
organization, but you don't have
to be a Catholic to be a part of
it."
"The thrust of what we do is
home visits," Marcacci said. Em
phasis of the organization is
placed on spirituality, friendship,
and service, he said, "with clients
and among members."
The Society is dedicated to
help with crisis needs of the poor
in general, Marcacci indicated.
"Helping with rent, utility bills,
even a month's insurance on the
car," he said. "We've almost done
anything you can think of, but
the biggest things are these: rent
and utilities."
Monthly the Society conducts
interviews with folks seeking as
sistance. Interviews happen at
Our Lady of the Mountains
Church. "We use the church hall
from 10 a.m. to noon on the first
Wednesday of the month," Mar
cacci said.
"If it was not for St. Vincent
de Paul and CARES and some of
these other programs, we would
have a lot of people going with
out heat in the winter," said Lo-
ralie Arnold, case manager with
the Pickens County Department
of Family and Childrens Serv
ices. Government funding to the
county's Community Action
agency is simply not enough,
Arnold explained.
"They just don't have the
amount of money needed to
cover all of the need in Pickens
County," she said. "Once they
are out, that is it. They won't get
any more from the state. St. Vin
cent de Paul comes in and picks
up where Community Action and
the state cannot. They fill in the
gap. If it wasn't for them, there
would be a lot of gaps.
"I know we refer a lot of peo
ple down there. We have a lot of
people come back to us saying
St. Vincent de Paul paid their
light bill or their gas bill."
Checks to the St. Vincent de
Paul Society, to help with their
Community Heating Fund this
time of year, can be mailed to:
St. Vincent de Paul Society
Our Lady of the Mountains
Conference
1908 Waleska Highway-Route
108
Jasper, GA 30143.
By Hettie Young
At our September meeting of
Delta Kappa Gamma Beta Eta
Chapter, we began our new year
with President Traci Bucking
ham and her Executive Board
leading our group with the theme
of Change. Janis Kleinberger of
Emerging Healthcare presented
the program at the Woodbridge
Inn and Restaurant. Offering a
vast array of health and wellness
services and education, Emerg
ing Healthcare is working on in
tegrating various therapy
sessions to prevent illness, im
prove health, ease chronic condi
tions and help people take charge
of their well-being.
Getting back together after
having been off for the summer,
the members were glad to dis
cuss upcoming programs and
projects, including providing
books for The First Steps pro
gram, during the biennium we
have just begun. President Buck
ingham let us know that our new
vision statement is Leading
Women Educators Impacting
Education Worldwide. On that
note, members were happy and
proud to learn that one of our
own members, Molly Buchanan,
has been chosen as Pickens High
School Teacher of the Year.
Our next meeting will be Nov.
18 at 6 p.m.
First Vice President Stephanie Baggs sitting with Janis
Kleinberger of Emerging Healthcare.
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