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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16,2020
• Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements • Vol. 54 No. 4
BGHS
football
players named
to East/West
FCA team
Banks County High
School football players
were nominated to partici
pate in the annual East/West
FCA Football Game.
The game was not able to
be played this year due to
COVID, but players from
across Northeast Georgia
were still nominated by
their coaches.
BCHS Football Players
named were: Wyatt Whit
field, Jace Bennett, Corey
Vickery and Tanner Ka-
miniski.
The BCHS FCA Club is
led by Kim Carithers. She
states that the purpose of
The Fellowship of Christian
Athletes exists to see the
world transformed by Jesus
Christ through the influence
of coaches and athletes.
FCA sets out to engage,
equip, and empower stu
dents and athletes to carry
out their message.
“We have character
coaches sharing and disci
pline athletes and coach
es, we have special events
catered to serve and honor
athletes and coaches for
their effort and influence in
their communities,” Carith
ers said. “Banks County
FCA has weekly huddles
at BCES and BCMS and
monthly huddles at BCHS
giving students and student
athletes an opportunity lead
and serve. We are extremely
proud of these young men
for representing FCA.”
Dec. 22
BOC
meeting
cancelled
The Tuesday, Dec. 22,
meeting of the Banks Coun
ty Board of Commissioners
has been cancelled.
The next meeting of the
BOC will be held on Tues
day, Jan. 12, in the County
Annex Building.
The BOC meets on the
second and fourth Tuesday
of each month in the County
Annex Building in Homer.
Charles Turk is the chair
man of the BOC.
MAILING LABEL
Blessing Box brings Lula community together
By ANGELA GARY
angela@mainstreetne ws .com
Some come to drop off
donated items to help out
their neighbors.
Others come to pick up a
few items they are in need
of during hard times.
Whatever the reason they
are stopping by, they are
sure to get a blessing.
Mandy Stewart’s Bless
ing Box in Lula has provid
ed many blessings for the
community since she start
ed it in May of this year.
“I saw so many in the
Lula area struggling and in
need of physical and spir
itual help,” Stewart said.
“My heart began to break
for my community. I knew
God was calling me to do
something.”
Amanda Browning with
Amanda’s Farm to Fork
Resturant in downtown
Lula contacted Stewart to
offer her restaurant as a lo
cation to place the Blessing
Box that Stewart and her
husband, Eric, built.
That is where the first
Blessing Box was placed,
and it is still located there
today.
“Since placing our little
gray blessing box at Aman
da’s Farm to Fork Restau
rant, we now have a second
Blessing Box, located at
the Lula Gifts and Phar
macy in downtown Lula,”
Stewart said. "We are also
in the process right now of
upgrading our little gray
blessing box at Amanda’s
Larm to Lork with a larger
blessing box that will also
be able to hold clothing,
along with food, hygiene,
and basic household items.”
Items left in the boxes in-
Love'
Blessing
Take What Yd
Donate WhatYoo
t n,KOut on Facebock:
Che °1 elghboMula
@ldveyourpeil'
A Blessing Box in Lula invites the community members
to “Take what you need! Donate what you can!”
elude non-perishable food,
hygiene items, fresh vege
tables from gardens in the
summer months, blankets,
winter hats and gloves, dia
pers and baby formula.
“My family has always
had a heart to serve oth
ers through a variety of
ministries, but this is the
first time we have placed
a blessing box in our com
munity,” Stewart said.
“The neat thing about the
blessing boxes are they are
available for people in need
to access 24 hours a day/7
days a week. No ques
tioned asked.”
Not long after she start
ed the Blessing Box effort,
Stewart started Love Your
Neighbor Ministries.
“God began to confirm to
me His plan for Love Your
Neighbor Ministries," she
said. “Through the minis
try, my desire is to love and
honor God; and to love and
serve others. Because as a
Follower of Jesus Christ, I
am His hands and feet, and
I am commanded to love
God and to love my neigh
bor. A lot of times when
we think of our neighbor,
we think of the person who
lives right next door to us,
but according to the Word
of God, our neighbor is
anyone we see in need. So
that grandma struggling
to raise her grandchildren,
that homeless man who
—
il0\/E your neighbor
ministries
nTstSU
Mandy and Eric Stewart are leading the Blessing Box
effort in Lula to provide needed items to community
members.
has lost his job and can’t
find work, that drug addict
who is so caught up in their
addiction they neglect their
own children’s needs, that
single mom who is doing
all she can to take care of
her kids, that granny and
grandpa who struggle to
make it on the small amount
they collect each month, or
the family who is caring for
a disabled or special needs
family member. They are
our neighbors too.”
DONATIONS
To help support this min
istry, you can drop off do
nations inside Amanda’s
Farm to Fork Restaurant
on Thursdays and Fridays
from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. or
anytime at the little green
Donation Box located at
6217 Main Street, Lula,
GA 30554, or you can
email Mandy Stewart at:
LoveYourNeighborLula@
gmail.com for more in
formation on Love Your
Neighbor Ministries. You
can also check out the min
istry on Facebook @Lov-
eYourNeighborLula.
“We try to keep it stocked
the best we can, but for the
past few months, more
people have been using it;
so it’s a challenge at times
to keep it filled,” Stewart
said. “We do the best we
can, along with the help of
the community and dona
tions."
COVID-19 Update
Banks goes to remote learning Wednesday
By ANGELA GARY
angela@mainstreetnews.com
The Banks County
School System moved
to remote learning on
Wednesday. Dec. 16, due to
COVID-19. Superintendent
Ann Hopkins reported that
the number of cases among
staff has made it difficult to
provide personnel to cover
the school.
“Our school system has
begun to experience a high
er COVID-19 spread rate,
especially among our staff
members, making it dif
ficult to provide the per
sonnel support necessary
to continue face-to-face
instruction through the re
mainder of our last week
before the break,” Hopkins
said. “Therefore, the last
day students will attend
school will be Tuesday. De
cember 15, 2020.”
Hopkins said the plans
are to “thoroughly clean,
sanitize and disinfect all
buildings and facilities to
prepare for students and
staff to return in January.”
“Unfortunately, accord
ing to the Center for Dis
ease Control, North Georgia
is a developing COVID-19
hotspot.” Hopkins said.
“Please be aware that our
return to school in the new
year is not guaranteed. We
will closely monitor the
numbers and coordinate
with all local, state and fed
eral officials to determine
the safety in returning to
face-to-face instruction.”
In an effort to be pro
active in the event that the
school system cannot im
mediately return to face-to-
face instruction in January,
school officials are sending
home mobile devices with
all students by Tuesday, De
cember 15.
“This will ensure that we
are prepared to pivot to re
mote learning should the
need arise,” Hopkins said.
“Please know that we are
delighted that we have been
able to provide face-to-face
instruction for almost all of
our first semester. We will
work to do so in the second
semester as well, but we en
courage families to develop
a backup plan should we
need to transition to remote
learning. We hope that you
and your family are safe and
continue to use precautions
during the holiday season.
“Upon our return to
school, we will strongly
recommend all students and
staff members wear masks
especially when social dis
tancing is not possible.”
School nutrition services
will still be provided for all
students for the remainder
of the week of December
16-18.
COVID cases continue to increase in Banks County
By ANGELA GARY
angela@mainstreetne ws .com
Banks County is having
a large Covid outbreak,
making it one of the most
troubled areas in Northeast
Georgia for the virus.
According to state data,
Banks’ virus rate over the
last two weeks is at 801
people per 100.000. Only
Habersham and White
counties are slightly higher
in the area. Statewide, the
rate is only 516 per 100,000
people.
As for the percentage of
those who tested over the
past week, 18.1 percent
were positive for COVID.
Since March, Banks had
reported 924 positive cases
of Covid with 113 people
hospitalized and 12 con
firmed deaths.
High number of COVID cases at County Annex leads to staff shortage
There have been multiple
cases of COVID-19 report
ed among the staff at the
Banks County Courthouse
Annex, which has led to
the number of people being
allowed inside the facility
being limited because of the
staff shortage.
“The Banks County gov
ernment offices are open
during regular hours with
limited staff,” county clerk
Jenni Clerk states. “We will
monitor the number of per
sons allowed in any office at
any given time until further
notice.”
“You may call the depart
ment of your choice located
under the ‘Departments’ tab
on the Banks County Gov
ernment website”
For more information,
call 706-677-6200.
COVID vaccine expected to be in Banks next week
By ANGELA GARY
angela@mainstreetnews.com
The COVID-19 vaccine
is expected to be in Banks
County next week and will
be given out first to health
care workers and nursing
home residents.
Banks County Board
of Commission chairman
Charles Turk reported that
he has met with local pub
lic health officials and been
told that the vaccine will be
in the county next week.
He said health care work
ers and nursing home resi
dents will be given the vac
cine first.
“It will then go to first re
sponders.” Turk reports.
There have been 924 cas
es of COVID-19 reported in
Banks County since March,
with 12 deaths attributed to
the virus.
There are approximately
37 new COVID-19 cases
per week being reported in
the county.