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PAGE 8A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24, 2020
New BOC chairman talks to Rotary Club
By Ellen Cowne
Rotary Club
New Madison County
Board of Commissioners
Chairman Todd Higdon
spoke to the Rotary Club
of Madison County Friday.
As a past mayor of
Danielsville, he realizes
the importance of city and
county governments work
ing more closely together.
The county’s improving its
assistance to small cities is
top on his list in order to
strengthen the infrastruc
ture. For example, though
Carlton is about to out
grow itself, it doesn’t have
the equipment to clean up
shoulders of its roads.
TODD
HIGDON
"But the county does,”
he said. So, it needs to
support the smaller towns
like Ila and Carlton with
equipment and services.
Comer has beautiful old
buildings, but they need to
be "fixed up,” and that will
take county support.
Another goal is to
improve roads. Growth
is good, but new subdi
visions take a toll on the
roads, the school system,
the sewage system and
water. Currently, the bud
get is in the black, Higdon
told the Rotary club, but
several areas are not get
ting the share they need for
improvement.
Right now, the county is
spending more on recre
ation than on roads, and
though recreation is very
important to people, good
roads are necessary to sup
port it.
So, the different areas in
the county have to work
together to support each
other, and more impor
tantly, the county and
cities need to plan as a
unit. Higdon’s vision
includes an emphasis on
roads and water. It includes
counties and cities work
ing hand in hand, and it
even includes the start
of a veteran’s advocacy
group. It’s all about infra
structure, and to improve
it, Ila, Danielsville, Hull,
Comer, Carlton, Colbert
and Madison County gov
ernments must move in
the same direction and
march hand in hand into
the future.
Ellen Cowne provides
news from, the Rotary Club
of Madison County.
Azevedo talks to Rotary Club about projects
By Ellen Cowne
Rotary Club
Some folks just have to
see for themselves. Bruce
Azevedo is one of those,
and he proved it in 1999
when he joined the Rotary
Club.
At one of the first meet
ings in Madison County
that he attended, the pro
gram was an update on The
Rotary Foundation and the
international project the
club was sponsoring.
This year, the club was
supporting Haiti by sending
them goats, but as Bruce
listened, he was a little con
fused. Having travelled to
several countries in pover
ty and seeing the need for
clean water as a common
denominator. Bruce won
dered about the need for
goats.
So, he left the meet
ing, drove to the airport,
and purchased a ticket to
Haiti. He just had to see
for himself. He talked to
many people there about
their individual needs and
what they felt were needs
for the country. What he
BRUCE
AZEVEDO
learned was that children
were dying from unclean
drinking water and what
these communities needed
were wells.
When he returned to
Madison County and
described his findings
in Haiti, the club made
Azevedo the club’s Rotary
Foundation Chair, and there
he has been since 1999.
Now, Azevedo serves as the
Rotary Foundation Chair
for the entire District 6910.
The information he pre
sented to the Rotarians at
their Friday meeting was an
update on the Foundation’s
projects with emphasis on
District involvement.
The mission of The
Rotary Foundation of
Rotary International is to
enable Rotarians to advance
world understanding, good
will, and peace through the
improvement of health, the
support of education, and
the alleviation of poverty.
It provides money through
several types of grants.
Humanitarian grants are
divided into global grants
and district grants and serve
two different purposes. The
global grant must be with
in one of the six areas of
focus which are: peace and
conflict resolution, disease
prevention and treatment,
water and sanitation, mater
nal and child health, basic
education and literacy, and
economic and community
development.
The district grants do not
have to be within one of
the six focus areas and can
serve the needs of specific
communities in the area.
The foundation also offers
a $30,000 global scholar
ship grant whose purpose
is to forge a link between
Rotary and the develop
ment of skilled profession
als aligned with one of the
Rotary Foundation’s areas
of focus.
Another project is the
HANWASH program. The
Haiti National Clean Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene
Strategy is a multi-nation
al collaboration with the
Haitian government. It
includes multiple Rotary
global grants to support
sustainable water and san
itation projects to provide
infrastructure.
Any Rotarian who gives
$1,000 to the Foundation
is named a Paul Harris
Fellow, so named after
Rotary’s founder. Someone
who gives $1,000 each
year becomes a member
of the Paul Harris Society,
and a person who leaves
$10,000 in his will to the
Foundation Endowment,
becomes a Bequest mem
ber. These are just a few of
the areas of service that the
Foundation supports. And
for District 6910, Bruce
Azevedo handles all of this.
Ellen Cowne provides
reports from the Rotary
Club of Madison County.
Red Cross urges blood donation
December may be the
season of giving - but it’s
typically a challenging
time to collect enough
blood donations. That’s
why the American Red
Cross is urging those
who are feeling well to
give the gift of life by
donating blood or plate
lets this holiday season.
Donations of all blood
types are needed to
ensure hospital shelves
remain stocked to meet
patient blood needs.
The Red Cross will
hold a blood drive at the
Madison County Library
from 2 to 6 p.m., Dec.
29.
Make your appoint
ment to give blood,
platelets or plasma with
the Red Cross by down
loading the Red Cross
Blood Donor App, vis
iting RedCrossBlood.
org, calling 1-800-RED
CROSS (1-800-733-
2767) or enabling the
Blood Donor Skill on
any Alexa Echo device.
To encourage dona
tions this holiday sea
son, those who come to
donate blood, platelets
or plasma with the Red
Cross through Jan. 4 will
receive a long-sleeved
Red Cross T-shirt, while
supplies last.
As COVID-19 hospi
talizations increase, hos
pital demand for conva
lescent plasma has also
grown. COVID-19 con
valescent plasma is a type
of blood donation given
by those who’ve recov
ered from this coronavi-
rus. Their plasma con
tains antibodies that may
help patients actively
fighting the virus. Learn
more about convalescent
plasma and sign up to
give at RedCrossBlood.
org/Plasma4COVID.
The Red Cross is test
ing blood, platelet and
plasma donations for
COVID-19 antibodies.
The test may indicate if
the donor’s immune sys
tem has produced anti
bodies to this coronavi-
rus, regardless of whether
BUDGET MEETING
The City of Hull will hold a work session
on its 2021 Budget beginning at 6:30 p.m.
on December 29, 2020, via Zoom. Sign-
in information can be found on the City
Web Site www.hullga.com. The budget
will be presented for a vote at the regular
meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. on De
cember 29, 2020.
Sandra Pou
City Clerk
an individual developed
COVID-19 symptoms.
Red Cross antibody tests
will be helpful to identi
fy individuals who have
COVID-19 antibodies
and may now help cur
rent coronavirus patients
in need of convalescent
plasma transfusions.
Convalescent plasma is
a type of blood donation
collected from COVID-
19 survivors that have
antibodies that may help
patients who are actively
fighting the virus.
COVID-19 antibody
test results will be
available within one to
two weeks in the Red
Cross Blood Donor
App or donor portal at
RedCrossBlood.org. A
positive antibody test
result does not confirm
infection or immunity.
The Red Cross is not
testing donors to diag
nose illness, referred to
as a diagnostic test. To
protect the health and
safety of Red Cross
staff and donors, it is
important that individu
als who do not feel well
or believe they may be
ill with COVID-19 post
pone donation.
Each Red Cross blood
drive and donation cen
ter follows the highest
standards of safety and
infection control, and
additional precautions
— including temperature
checks, social distancing
and face coverings for
donors and staff — have
been implemented to
help protect the health of
all those in attendance.
Donors are asked to
schedule an appointment
prior to arriving at the
drive and are required
to wear a face cover
ing or mask while at
the drive, in alignment
with Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
public guidance.
Fun By The Numbers
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4
1
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Northeast Health District
begins administering
COVID vaccination
The Northeast Health District began providing COVID-19
vaccines to healthcare workers by appointment on Friday,
December 18. Vaccinations are being administered at the
Clarke County Health Department.
Due to limited availability of vaccine, the CDC’s Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recom
mended that certain priority population groups receive the
vaccine first. This tiered method of vaccine distribution
will prioritize the most vulnerable populations along with
key parts of the workforce, the health district said in a news
release. The Northeast Health District will be distributing
COVID-19 vaccines to Tier 1 A, which includes people serv
ing in healthcare settings and residents of nursing homes.
“We have all been waiting for this moment, and we look
forward to being able to provide protection to all of our
community members as soon as enough vaccine becomes
available. But for right now, it is critical that we use the lim
ited supply to protect our healthcare workers and those most
at risk from infection,” explained Dr. Stephen Goggans,
District Health Director. ‘This is a tremendous step forward
in the fight against COVID-19.”
Healthcare workers whose employers are not providing
COVID-19 vaccines may make an appointment to get a
COVID-19 vaccination through a Northeast Health District
clinic by calling 706-340-0996.
Members of other priority groups may visit
PublicHealthAthens.com to complete a pre-registration
form. Members of the priority groups who are eligible to
receive the vaccine will be contacted to complete the regis
tration process and will be notified when an appointment is
available.
For more information about how groups are prioritized
for vaccine eligibility, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavi-
ms/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations-process.html
For local COVID-19 vaccination information, visit: https://
publichealthathens.com/wp/programs/infectious-disease/
coronavims-covid-19-information/covid-19-vaccination/
Library has new books
The Madison County Library has the following new
books to check out:
“Unbiased” by Jennifer Eberhardt
“African American and Latinx History” by Paul Ortiz
“Being Heumann” by Judith Heumann
“Deviants War” by Eric Cervini
“El Norte” by Carrie Gibson
“Heartbeat of Wounded Knee” by David Treuer
“I’m Still Here” by Austin Brown
“I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You” by David Chariandy
“Make Change” by Shaun King
“Me and White Supremacy” by Layla F. Saad
“Peculiar Indifference” by Elliott Currie
“Spirit Run” by Noe Alvarez
“Stamped From the Beginning” by Ibram X. Kendi
“Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson
“The Secret Lives of Planets” by Paul Murdin
“Unapologetically Ambitious” by Shellye Archambeau
“In the Country of Women” by Susan Straight
“Credit Repair” by Amy Loftsgordon
“A California Christmas” by Brenda Novak
“The Girl in the Mirror” by Rose Carlyle
“Jingle All the Way” by Debbie Macomber
“Lost Shtetl” by Max Gross
“The Lost Writings” by Franz Kafka
“The Once and Future Witches” by Alix E. Harrow
“Return to Virgin River” by Robyn Carr
“The Sentinel: a Jack Reacher Novel” by Lee Child
“A Time For Mercy” by John Grisham
“The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop” by Fannie Flagg
“Three Women Disappear” by James Patterson
Place holds online at gapines.org or call the library
to place holds over the phone with your library card.
Curbside service is available Monday to Friday 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Grab and Go
hours are Wednesday through Friday, 2 to 6 p.m. for
limited library visits to pick out your own books. Masks
are required and computers are not available during Grab
and Go hours. The library will be closed for Christmas
December 24-26.
SOCIAL SECURITY
DISABILITY
Applications & Appeals
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Disability Advocates
Call 678-935-3923 • SSIHelp.org
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NOTICE OF CHANGE
IN MEETING TIME FOR
DECEMBER MEETING
Due to the Christmas Holiday the
December meeting of the Hull City
Council will be held on December
29, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. instead of De
cember 24, 2020. The meeting will be
held via Zoom and log-in information
can be found on the City web site at
www.hullga.com.
Sandra Pou
City Clerk