About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 2023)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023 BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 5A Receives a blessing while trying to give a blessing The boys filed into the room laughing with each other and check ing out what was in the cafeteria line for their Sunday lunch. A group of adults, strangers to the boys, stood to the side smiling toward the young men. The boys came in two groups. First, the “older ones” ate lunch. They ranged in age from 15 to 21. Next, the “younger boys” came in to eat. Their ages ranged from 8 to 14. These boys live in a group home because they are not able to live with their parents due to abuse. I t’s not like an orphanage where the children no longer have parents or family members due to death. These boys have family but they are not allowed to have their chil dren. One of the older boys, who had a full-length leg brace on and a cast on one arm, came up and sat beside me. He was finished eating. I was sitting alone at one of the tables in the cafeteria. I had walked in with a cane, so maybe he identified with me. I didn’t ask him how he got his injuries. The boys in this home come from a world of abuse so I didn’t want to cause him any pain. I heard someone else ask him what happened and he, said, “Oh, I’m just clumsy.” I fear there is a lot more to this young man’s story. As he sat, I introduced myself and asked his name. I told him I had surgery last week to repair a tom meniscus. He shared that he might need s urgcry too. The brace was solid black and tight on his leg. The arm cast had been colored solid red with a marker. We talked a few more minutes and he stood to leave the cafeteria. I told him I would pray for him that he would heal fast. He smiled, shook my hand and told me that he would be praying for my leg too. When the younger boys came in to eat, three sat at my table after filling their plate with the Zaxby’s chicken, mac aroni and cheese, potato salad and rolls we had brought for their lunch. I asked their ages, 12, 13 and 14. The 12-year- old was pretty excited about the Zaxby’s chicken fingers. He said he had been in the home for six months and had not had Zaxby’s in eight months. We had goody bags for the boys. It was a happy time, with some sadness also, to see how the excited the boys got about Axe body wash and several different kinds of candy and treats. As we left the group home, we spotted the boys lounging around in living room areas, which were brightly decorated for Christmas. They were playing electronic games, read ing and talking with each other. We had taken the lunch and goody bags to the boys in hopes of giving them a blessing. We came away being blessed ourselves from these young men who were kind, appreciative of what we had done for them and interested in our lives. Angela Gary is editor with the Banks County News. She can be reached at angela@maintreetnews.com. Keeping Poinsettias after the holidays BY ZACH MCCANN The poinsettia is a beau tiful indoor plant that dec orates many homes dining the holiday season. Some may think that the part of the plant that is bright red, pink, white or even speckled is the flower. But, these are actually the bracts, or mod ified leaves. The flowers are the small yellow blooms in the middle of the bracts. Once the season is past and all the decorations are packed away, you can con tinue to enjoy the beauty of the poinsettias throughout the rest of the year. From January to March or April, they need to be kept in a bright location inside, get ting about six hours of light, but not direct sunlight. Plac ing the plants in direct sun light may cause the bracts’ color to fade. Poinsettias live better with tempera tures remaining between 50 and 70 degrees and should be kept away from drafty ar eas or anything that produc es excessive heat. Excess heat will cause the bracts and leaves to yellow and fall off. You will need a very minimal amount of fertiliz er to keep your poinsettias healthy. When they are in bloom, you should not fer tilize them at all. Watering is crucial. They can be dam aged by either getting them too wet or too dry. They should be watered when the soil surface feels dry to the touch, and water them until the soil is saturated. You will need to prune the poinsettias to a height of 8 inches in March or April, when the bright colored bracts begin to fade. Keep them near a sunny window and water them on a regular basis. Once the nighttime temperatures reach and stay above 50 degrees the plants can be set outside, but be sure to bring them in during fall when temperatures drop back down. They will need to be fertilized more since they are outside, so feed them with a complete fertil izer such as 10-10-10 every two to three weeks during the spring, summer and fall. Sometime in June is a good time to repot your poinsettias. Using a soil mixture with a lot of organ ic matter in it, transplant the plants into a pot two to four inches larger than the original pot. At the first of July, prune back the new growth tips of the branch es and repeat by mid-Au gust. Insect pests may be a problem during the spring and summer. Some com mon problem pests will be the whitefly, mealybugs, soft scales and spider mites. Contact the Banks County Extension Office for up-to- date recommendations on controlling these and other pests. Although it may be a dif ficult procedure, poinsettia plants can be brought back into flowering next fall. The bright, colorful bracts are formed by being kept in a dark place for a long, con tinuous period each night. Beginning on the first of Oc tober and continuing for the next 8 to 10 weeks you will need to keep the plants in total darkness for 14 hours straight each night. This can be done by placing them un der a large box or inside a closet. During the daytime, you will need to move the plants so they can receive 6 to 8 hours of bright sunlight each day. Following this procedure closely should bring your poinsettias into full bloom during Novem ber or December in time for another Christmas season. We are always here to help at the Banks County Extension office. Ways to contact us are to call us at 706-677-6230, by email at zmccann@uga.edu, or to come by the office at 413 Evans street, Homer, GA. Zach McCann is the Banks County extension agent. Mayor’s Reading Club Day set June 7 in Baldwin By KARLEE CALDWELL Baldwin Mayor Stapha- nie Almagno made a proc lamation at the city council meeting last week declaring June 7, 2024, as Mayor’s Reading Club Day in Bald win. This came after the ap proval of the Mayor’s Read ing Club program. The date for reading club day will line up with the location of the mobile library at the Farmers’ Market for the up coming summer. In partnership with the Georgia Municipal Asso ciation (GMA), this free program is an initiative to allow the City of Baldwin to design and participate in events aiming to improve literacy rates in children ages 4-11 in the area. The GMA started this program with a goal “to improve literacy skills and overall success with the ear ly reading among children in Georgia cities.” This program is designed to allow the mayor, employ ees, and citizens to volun teer and read to children within the community and highlight the importance of reading and writing. This will also include an effort to raise money for the addition of a free library sta tion at the Farmers’ Market and several reading events. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at last week’s meeting, the council approved: •the second reading of the Precision Digital SUP Ordi nance which will allow for the addition of a business consisting of a data center, cryptocurrency mining site, and high-performance com puting center in Baldwin. •the second reading of the Wrecker Service Ordinance which highlights changes made to the policy held with wrecker companies used by the city. Some changes made to the document in clude an annual review, in surance requirements from the towing companies, and inspection of storage facil ities as part of the applica tion process. •the second reading of the Bellamy Zoning Ordinance allowing for the rezoning of newly acquired land to expand the owner’s pre-ex isting auto repair shop. This parcel of land connects to his land where his shop cur rently operates. •an update to the Ceme tery Plot Revocation Policy that provides return options of a vacant cemetery plot with Baldwin’s cemetery that is no longer needed by its owner. ANNOUNCEMENTS •City Offices will be closed on December 22 and December 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday and January 1 in observance of New Year’s Day. •City Hall will be op erating by drive-through and appointment only from Tuesday, December 26, through Friday, December 29. To make an appointment with a member of city hall staff, call 706-778-6341. Deadline approaching for tax credits to be given to help youths aging out of foster care system By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service A nonprofit formed to help administer a new state tax credit to support foster children aging out of the system is working against a tight deadline. Fostering Success Act Inc. has until Dec. 31 to pro cess $20 million in annual tax credits the General As sembly authorized last year. As of the beginning of this month, $15 million still re mained available, said Heidi Carr, the organization’s ex ecutive director. “We’ve been reaching out to a lot of companies and in dividuals to get their appli cations in,” she said. “But time is running out.” Under legislation Geor gia lawmakers passed unanimously, individual taxpayers can receive dol- lar-for-dollar state income tax credits for up to $2,500 per year contributed to the program, while married couples filing jointly can receive up to $5,000. Cor porate donations are limited to 10% of the company’s annual tax liability. “They have to pay taxes anyway,” Carr said. “This is an opportunity to make a difference.” About 700 young Geor gians age out of the foster care system each year, most with no family to return to after they leave the system. Carr cited statistics show ing 97% of those youths end up living in chronic poverty, 71% of the girls get preg nant within a year of leaving foster care, and 81% of the boys encounter police. “They don’t have any where to go back to, so they end up on the street,” she said. Contributions to the tax credit program will be used for “wraparound” services - including housing, food, and transportation - to help support these young people while they attend a universi ty or technical college. For mer foster care youths ages 18 to 25 are eligible for the program. “We want them to learn a trade or get a degree,” Can- said. Fostering Success Act Inc. cunently is distributing funds raised through the tax credit to 20 nonprofit orga nizations, with more in the pipeline for 2024. One of those is Alpharetta-based FaithBridge Foster Care, which has helped kids ag ing out of foster care enroll in colleges across the state, from Dalton State College in Northwest Georgia to the College of Coastal Georgia and Valdosta State Univer sity. “Over 50% of foster kids sign out of foster care at 18,” said John Solberg, vice president of youth opportu nities at FaithBridge. “They believe they can support themselves, but they can fall into homelessness and have other issues because they’re not mentally or emotionally prepared for the challenges of adulthood.” Applications for the tax credit to the Georgia De partment of Revenue are accepted on a first-come basis. Once approved, tax payers have 60 days from the date of approval to send Rotary Club sponsors Food 2 Kids Program for schools The Banks County Rotary Sacks of kid-friendly more information, contact Club is sponsoring the Food food—enough for at least Becky Carlan at 706-540- 2 Kids Program in the coun- six meals—are handed out 3828. ty school system. Food 2 every week to childrent. Mail in contributions Kids is a program that helps ave approximately sev- for the program to: Banks bridge that gap for some of en to 10 pounds of food— County Rotary Club Food 2 the community’s neediest enough for two days of Kids, P.O. Box 54, Homer, kids. meals. To donate or for Ga., 30547. their contribution check or pay online. Carr said she’s not surprised the program is getting off to slow start be cause the tax credit is new and a lot of taxpayers aren’t aware of it. Thus far, about 100 youths have contacted her organization for help, she said. “We were able to help some start school in August, and we have more lined up for January,” she said. “This gives them hope. Hope is something they don’t have a lot of.” Yes! Sign me up for one year of: The Banks County News p,easemo ' to ' Subscriptions t The Banks County News 13/YEAR-52 issues* p.o. box 908 Jefferson, GA 30549 (55 and older is just $40/year) Taxes and USPS delivery is included in prices. Offer is good for new & existing customers. Please allow two weeks for processing. Subscribe at BanksNewsTODAY.Com Or mail in this coupon Name Phone Delivery Address_ City State Check Enclosed $_ . Email (for access to web site)_ Or charge to: □ Visa DMasterCard DAMXCard# Billing Address (if different from delivery address) City State_ _Amt Charged_ Exp. Date_ Signature_
