About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2025)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025 - PAGE 3B UGA Miracle raises $1.2M for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta State News Trump tariffs have GA businesses nervous By Jamison Wood University of Geor gia Miracle recently an nounced it had raised $1.2 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at its annual Dance Mara thon. More than 2,000 students, faculty, staff and community members gathered in Stegeman Coliseum to celebrate one of the University of Geor gia’s largest student-run organizations and its 30th year on campus. This milestone was marked by several chang es to this year’s program — the largest being the move in venue from the Tate Student Center to Stegeman Coliseum and shortening the event to 13 hours, a significant differ ence from the traditional ly 24-hour overnight mar athon. “Our hope is that the shortened event will in crease participation, engagement and fund- raising, contributing to Miracle’s success in the future,” said program Di rector Stella Mele. Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with the total re veal taking place at mid night, attendees enjoyed silent discos, live music and spending time with UGA Miracle families. The organization contin ued beloved traditions, including the “hair chop challenge,” morale color group games and the “Cir cle of Hope,” a moment at the end of the marathon in which attendees remove the hospital bands they are given to wear throughout the duration of the event. These bracelets serve as a reminder of the patients who wear the same brace lets during their stay in the hospital. Each year, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta patients, also known as “Miracle children,” and their families look for ward to attending Dance Marathon to interact with students and share their stories. This year, four new families became “UGA Miracle Families.” These families spend time with UGA Miracle students throughout the year at family days, high school dance marathons and an opportunity to tour Sanford Stadium. IT’S A YEAR- ROUND EFFORT Throughout the year, UGA Miracle students worked to contribute to the final total by partic ipating in fundraising pushes such as “Beyond Limits” and “Ring the Bell.” The recent “Pres idents Day” fundraising challenge between Greek and other student organi zation presidents broke previous records a few weeks before Dance Mar athon. In the spirit of change, the students re-envi sioned one of their largest fall fundraising pushes, “Launching Our Legacy,” to inspire members of the organization to create a lasting impact on the fu ture of children’s health and remind the broader campus community of the organization’s mission - “this generation fighting for the next.” In total, the students raised more than $530,000 through these fundraisers. UGA Miracle also sought to collaborate across campus this year, bringing back the Tour of Homes with UGA’s Panhellenic and Inter- fraternity Councils and promoting an exhibition game benefiting Chil dren’s Healthcare of At lanta with UGA men’s basketball. At this year’s H. Gordon and Francis S. Davis Student Engage ment Awards, UGA Mir acle brought home Most Innovative Program as a result of their work with UGA men’s basketball, as well as the Excellence in Marketing and Commu nication award for their efforts toward digital re- branding. Additionally, Dance Marathon 2025 celebrated the recent opening of the Arthur M. Blank Chil dren’s Hospital - a new facility in Atlanta that many of UGA Miracle’s GA Centennial Farm now accepting applications Georgia Centennial Farm applica tions are open to all qualifying candi dates with a deadline of May 1. Farms play a pivotal role in shaping Georgia’s legacy, serving as the bed- rock for economic, cultural and famil ial traditions for generations of Geor gians. Several farms boast a legacy spanning more than a century, and the state recognizes their historical signif icance through the Georgia Centennial Farm program. More than three decades ago, the Centennial Farm program was created to draw attention to historic farms and to encourage preservation. Since 1993, the program has recognized more than 630 farms around the state. Nominees must be working farms with a minimum of 10 acres of the original purchase, actively involved in agricultural production, and must generate at least $1,000 in annual farm-generated income. In addition, farms must have been continuous ly farmed by members of the same members have been able to visit. On these tours, students have seen their fundraising efforts at work through rehabilita tion services and the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disor ders Center. Last September, Chil dren’s Healthcare of At lanta moved all patients from Egleston Hospital to the new Arthur M. Blank Children’s Hospital. The city of Atlanta temporari ly shut down roads so that over 200 patients could be moved to the new facility via ambulances. “Our executive board got to tour the hospital shortly after its grand opening, and tours have been a special event for our general body members promoting cause-connec tion fundraising,” said Hospital Relations Chair Kathleen Cordell. “I’m personally excited to see all the incredible work that the hospital will do for its patients and UGA Miracle’s role in changing kids health in the coming years.” TOTAL FUNDRAISING OVER THE YEARS TOPS $16M UGA Miracle has raised more than $16 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and was rec ognized last summer by Children’s Miracle Net work as they received the Ryan White Award for Overcoming Adversity, an award recognizing the or ganization’s resilience in hosting Dance Marathon 2024 after two student tragedies impacted UGA’s campus. When the total number was revealed at midnight, celebrations and emotion were high as the students’ hard work paid off and the year came to an end. “As we celebrate our 30th year and return to Stegeman Coliseum, we have embraced the energy and legacy of this event like never before — it’s been an exciting time for our organization,” said Communications Director Emma Earwood. family for at least 100 years or must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Qualifying Georgia Centennial Farms are honored each October during an awards ceremony at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. The Georgia Centennial Farm pro gram is administered by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Farm Bureau Federation, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia EMC, Georgia National Fair and Agricenter and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. For more information, contact Rose Mayo, Historic Preservation Division Outreach Coordinator, at 770-855- 2586 or rose.mayo@dca.ga.gov. The postmark deadline for applications is May 1, and they are available online at dca.georgia.gov/community-assis- tance/historic-preservation/centenni- al-farms-program. By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service President Donald Trump’s decision on Wednesday to pause a huge hike in tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days gave the slumping stock market a one-day bump. But that surge was short-lived amid investors’ fears that tariffs remained historically high — 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% for nearly all other nations. Of even great er concerns is that Trump has ratch eted up the tariff on Chinese imports to 145%, with China retaliating in kind in a full-blown trade war. It’s the vola tility of the economy that has business owners in Georgia and elsewhere most worried, said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “We don’t know what to charge our customers,” added Felipe Arroyave, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Spectrum International, a manufac turer of contact lenses. “We’re just in limbo.” Throughout U.S. history, tar iffs have been used to raise revenue for the federal government. In fact, until a federal income tax was established ear ly in the last century, tariffs were the government’s primary source of rev enue. Tom Smith, an economics pro fessor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, said tariffs essential ly are a tax. “These tariffs are not paid by other countries,” he said. “They are paid by our businesses and our consumers. ... Georgia companies will have to pay the tax, and they will likely have to pass some of that on to consumers.” While higher prices will be felt broad ly throughout Georgia’s economy, the businesses likely to feel the most im pact are those that rely heavily on im ports or exports. Joseph Cortes, executi e director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, said his industry imports alumi num primarily from Canada to produce beer cans and imports steel that goes into brewing equipment. The tariff on steel is 25%. “If these tariffs continue, we’re going to see a continued slow- down in growth and investment,” he said. Cortes said it’s not simply a matter of raising prices to cover the cost of the tariffs because beer is not an essential product. “This is a discretionary spending item,” he said. “The last thing our small breweries will do is raise prices.” Poul ¬ Dems pitch child tax credit expansion By Ty Tagami Capitol Beat News Service The annual feder al child tax credit will shrink in half at the end of the year, falling to $1,000 if Congress does not intervene. Most of the Demo crats in the U.S. Senate, including Georgia’s Ra phael Warnock, are call ing not only to prevent that from happening but also to permanently ex pand the credit. Legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Mchael Bennet, D-Colo., would increase the an nual credit to $4,320 for parents with a child aged 5 and under and to $3,600 for each child aged 6 through 17. It would also offer a one-time $2,400 “baby bonus” to parents of newborns. “This is about attack ing poverty in our coun try and ensuring that the government isn’t taxing people into poverty,” said Warnock, who is among more than 40 other Sen ate Democrats co-spon soring the bill. Crucially, no members of the Senate’s Republi can majority have signed onto the measure. The tax credit was tempo rarily expanded in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan, which got no votes from Republi cans in Congress. Child tax credits are growing in popularity as an effective way to sup port families, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, a left-leaning group. After Congress tempo rarily expanded the credit in 2021, the child poverty rate for children under 6 fell nearly in half, from 9.8% to 5.3%, according try is one of Georgia’s top agricultural exports, Mexico being the top market. The industry exports about 17% of the broilers produced in Georgia. China was a key market for Georgia poultry in the past. But that’s no longer the case, a result both of high tariffs and non-tariff related steps China has taken including banning Georgia poultry fol lowing outbreaks of bird flu. “Exports are an important part of the success of Georgia’s poultry in dustry,” according to a statement from the Gainesville-based Georgia Poultry Federation. “Georgia poultry can com pete in any market in the world when the terms of trading are fair.” Ironical ly, the Georgia Ports Authority is en joying a booming business with high tariffs looming. The Port of Savannah set a monthly record last month for containerized cargo traffic for the sec ond month in a row, while the Port of Brunswick also broke its monthly re cord for autos and heavy equipment in March. That success was due in part to customers front-loading orders in an ticipation of the new tariffs, short-term gains that likely will go away once the tariffs set in. Clark said large compa nies have the resources to make such adjustments in their orders. The presi dent has stated the main goal of raising tariffs is to lure manufacturers to move their overseas operations to the Unit ed States. Smith said that’s a lofty goal but one that couldn’t begin to pay off in the short term because of the time it takes to acquire land, find workers, and build new plants. “Those facilities couldn’t be open any time in the next year, or the next two or three years,” he said. “The idea of bringing manufacturing back to the United States is very impractical, at least in the short run.” But Clark sees a silver lining in the ramping up of tariffs. The Trump ad ministration has announced that lead ers of more than 70 counties have called to express an interest in negoti ating tariff deals rather than retaliating against the U.S. “A lot of business decisions, large and small, are on hold until we have a better understanding of what the tar iffs set,” said Jeff Humphreys, direc tor of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. “I don’t think we’ll get a lot of new project an nouncements. ... A lot of projects will be on hold.” to the U.S. Census Bu reau. The poverty rate for older children fell to 5.2% from 8.9%. When that temporary expan sion expired, child pov erty shot back up, with 5 million more children living in poverty in 2022, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. Unlike the existing federal credit and the state credit in HB 136, the national Democrats’ proposal would estab lish a “refundable” cred it, meaning low-income families who owe less in taxes than the value of the credit would actu ally get money from the federal government. Cur rently, they lose out on the difference between the credit and their tax bill, so higher earners are more able to take full ad vantage.
