Newspaper Page Text
Page 4B
July 13, 2022
iReporter
River Place celebrates the 4th of July
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
River Place celebrated
Independence Day with
decorations, music, fellow
ship, entertainment and lots
of good food. Residents,
staff, families and friends
came together to enjoy the
traditions of the summer
holiday
Rainfall didn’t dampen
any spirits at the event as
staff and volunteers set up
a tent and moved the BBQ
indoors. River Place Direc
tor Kim Moore said it was
a lot of work but well worth
the effort. About 85 people
came together to enjoy the
festivities.
Activities director Nicole
Pope said River Place plans
three large events each year
that include families and
friends of residents. The
other two are at Mothers
Day and Thanksgiving. She
said this was the first event
back at full capacity since
the Covid shutdowns, and
everyone was ready for it.
DJ Douglas played favorite
patriotic songs and oldies,
and some talented mem
bers of the staff did the
Electric Shde. Lots of folks
helped deck the halls (and
the tables and walls) in red,
white & blue,
and many wore
Independence
Day outfits. A
volunteer grill-
master served
up hot dogs and
hamburgers
that were paired
with baked beans, cole slaw and
watermelon for the traditional
American summer feast. The
River Place kitchen staff added
cupcakes and other deserts that
were a feast for the eyes as well as
tasty.
The event was sponsored by
Eternal Hope Hospice & Pal
liative Care and Enhabit Home
Health-Enterprise. River Place is
an assisted living facility at 3492
Johnstonville Road, Forsyth. For
more information about River
Place, call 478-993-1246.
(Photos/Park Davis)
Volunteers at the monthly food distribution sponsored by Circle of Care at Christ United Methodist Church stop for a picture on June 28 as they wait for a truck from the Middle
Georgia Community Food Bank to arrive.
Volunteers lend their hands to help others
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Cars had lined up in the avail
able parking spaces and were
stretching down North Frontage
Road long before the mobile food
distribution at Christ
United Methodist
Church was sched
uled to begin at 10
a.m. on June 28.
About 30 volunteers
were at the church
ready to unload, sort
and pack boxes of
food and load them
into the cars.
Temperatures were
rapidly heading to the 90s causing
some discomfort for those waiting
in their vehicles, the volunteer
who waited patiently on N. Front
age Road directing traffic (Dr.
Jim Buff) and other volunteers.
The huge food truck from Middle
Georgia Community Food Bank
in Macon was over an hour late.
As well as food for about 250
boxes at the Forsyth site, it also
carried food for a site in Barnes-
ville, where a distribution had
been canceled the preceding week
because of the heat.
The mobile food drop at Christ
United Methodist Church is
sponsored by Circle of Care,
which maintains a food pantry
at 568 N. Lee Street, Forsyth. The
pantry is open on the first and
third Thursdays of each month
from 9-10 a.m. Circle of Care
buys food from Middle Georgia
Community Food Bank at 19
cents/pound for the pantry; the
Food Bank provides food for a
monthly mobile food distribution
to 250 families for no extra cost.
Christ United Methodist
Church, working with the Mon
roe County Ministerial Asso
ciation, has hosted the monthly
mobile distribution since 2011.
Volunteers come from various
churches and other organiza
tions throughout the community.
Young and old, the volunteers
come faithfully each month to
make sure all rims smoothly in
the process of getting the bulk
food from the Food Bank truck
into an organized package meant
to provide balanced nutrition.
Many of the volunteers have
worked with the distribution for
a decade.
Aimee Freeman, Virginia Rem-
mick and Wanda Buff have taken
leadership roles in organizing the
food distribution. For many years
Jackie Padgett and her late hus
band, Jim, volunteered to lead the
food pantry; Padgett still delivers
many boxes of food and handles
numerous other tasks for the food
pantry, like picking up boxes for
sorting food and placing orders
for purchases from the Food
Bank. Mark Stevens also takes a
leadership role with the food pan
try and mobile food distribution.
On June 28 the Food Bank
truck came with shelf-stable items
already packed, but there were
bundles of corn, cucumbers,
beets, and carrots and boxes of
frozen chicken, milk and apples to
unpack and re-pack to put in the
waiting cars.
“It’s organized chaos when the
truck gets here,” said Freeman.
When the truck was spotted,
volunteers gathered for a quick
prayer. Chris Fuller led the prayer,
asking for mercy for those in need
and that this food would be a
blessing for them.
After all the waiting cars have
been served, there are at least five
volunteers who deliver boxes of
food to those who don’t have a
way to get to the mobile distribu
tion. They divide the deliveries by
locations. Padgett fills her vehicle
with as many food boxes as it will
hold for deliveries. She said that
most of her deliveries are to se
niors, often with only one person
in the home. She has delivered
food to some of them for years
and has been told they don’t know
what they would do without her
help.
The mobile food distribution
has regularly been on the second
Wednesday of each month at 10
a.m. However, the Food Bank
canceled one set for June 8 and
later planned the one for June 28.
Currently the next mobile food
distribution at Christ UMC is
scheduled for Wednesday, July 13.
There has also been a mobile
food distribution at St. James Bap
tist Church on the fourth Tuesday
of each month, sponsored by the
Bethany Baptist Church Bread
& Blessings food pantry. It was
canceled by the Food Bank on
May 24 and on June 28 (replaced
by the one at Christ UMC),
apparently for administrative
reasons. St. James purchased food
and gathered donations and held
a food distribution on Monday,
June 27 that wasn’t associated
with Middle Georgia Community
Food Bank. The Food Bank in
Macon broke ground to build a
new warehouse on July 6.
Sculpture
Continued from Page 1 B
more step in the city’s plan to
develop public art, making the
city unique and memorable for
both residents and visitors. He
said the first project was the Wel
come to Forsyth train mural by
the late Andrew Patrick Henry,
followed by the painted hydrants
in the city’s dog park, the series of
utility box art around the square,
the train sculpture at the Mon
roe County Historical Society
museum, the kite mural in the
city park and the first responders
mobile mural by Henry.
chair, said the sculpture is one