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SEASON OF GIVING
Editor’s note: The following column is adapted
from an email that longtime Athenian Maureen
McLaughlin recently sent to friends.
My inspiration for writing to you comes
from Barack Obama and the Athens Area
Homeless Shelter. Obama built his campaign
on small donations from a large number of
people: the average donation to his campaign
was S90.1 woke up this morning thinking
about the homeless shelter, and it came to
me that this Christmas would be a good time
to apply Barack Obama's fundraising strategy
to the Athens community. In lieu of a present
this year, I encourage you to give a donation
to a local non-profit in honor of someone
on your gift list. To get you started thinking
about worthy groups, I want to share some of
my experiences with some of my favorite non
profits with you.
Food Bank of Northeast Georgia: This is an
ingenious program. In its 14-county service
area there are over 65,000 individuals in need.
The Food Bank's goal is to distribute 100
pounds of food per person per year, or 6.5 mil
lion pounds. How do they do this? By acquir
ing food that would otherwise be thrown away
from distribution warehouses, grocery stores,
and other venues. Food drives by churches,
businesses and community groups are also an
important source of canned goods.
Here is why you should give them money:
for every dollar they receive they are able to
rescue $14 worth of food. This is where my
church shops for food for Our Daily Bread (see
below). By contributing to the Food Bank,
you are contributing to a wide net of com
munity agencies helping those in need. Make a
donation through their website at www.food-
banknega.org/donate.php, or send a check to
P.0. Box 48857, Athens, GA, 30604-8857.
Athens Area Homeless Shelter: The home
less shelter is bursting at the seams right now.
When I was there one night recently, I saw
four mothers and at least a dozen children.
These moms are members of the working poor:
they hold down minimum wage jobs while
caring for their little ones. While living at the
homeless shelter, they are struggling to put
enough money aside to be able to pay for an
apartment and utilities. Some of them attend
classes at Athens Tech. One plays piano beau
tifully. Another likes to read James Patterson
novels. All of them want to make a better life
for their children.
A donation of money to the homeless shel
ter enables the staff to make an investment
where it is most needed. Thirty-five percent of
shelter income comes from our donations. You
may send a check, payable to: Athens Area
Homeless Shelter, 620 Barber St., Athens, GA,
30601, or through Paypal at www.athensarea-
homelessshelter.org.
Our Daily Bread: High atop a hill at the edge
of downtown sits the Oconee Street United
Methodist Church, home of Our Daily Bread,
operated by the Athens Urban Ministry. Our
Daily Bread volunteers seyve a hot, nutritious
breakfast and lunch five days a week and one
sack meal a day on Saturdays and Sundays to
whoever wants to eat. Many of the guests are
homeless people who live in the woods on the
edge of the Oconee River. Others are construc
tion workers who depend on Our Daily Bread
to help stretch their food dollars. When school
lets out for the holidays, many mothers with
children also come there for lunch. Our Daily
Bread usually serves around 125 people a day,
but on a recent Wednesday people from my
church served 153 plates, with no seconds. As
the economy worsens, the number of people
using this service is increasing.
For more information on donating to Our
Daily Bread, contact Rev. Lisa Caine, Oconee
Street pastor and director of Our Daily Bread,
at odb@negia.net, or call 706-353-6647.
Nuq's Space: One day I was sitting in a cof-
feeshop with my friend Vanessa Hay, from
the band Pylon. A young man approached us
and introduced himself. He said that he was
a member of a band, and Pylon's music was
a huge inspiration to him. He looked like he
needed to talk, so we asked him to sit with
us. After a few minutes, he told us that a
member of his band had committed suicide
the month before, and that he had been
unable to play music since then. He had tears
in his eyes as Vanessa held both his hands.
We sent him down to see Bob Sleppy at Nugi's
Space about arranging for some counseling.
Nugi's Space supports the emotional,
physical and professional well-being of Athens
musicians by offering mental health resources
for counseling without stigma, access to medi
cal resources for musicians with no health
insurance, and low cost, climate-controlled
practice spaces for bands of all ages. They also
have a support group for the loved ones of
people who committed suicide. Linda Phillips
took the pain from her son Null's suicide and
turned it into a community resource like no
other. To donate, go to their website, www.
nuci.org, or send a check to 396 Oconee St.,
Athens, GA, 30601.
The Clute Barrow Nelson Life Foundation,
Inc.: When Clute Nelson was going through
his ordeal with brain cancer, and after all hope
of recovery through conventional means had
failed, the Athens community banded together
so that Clute was able to receive experimental
treatment in Houston, TX. After Clute's death,
Don and Phyllis Nelson took the remaining
donations from their boy's fund and used
them to start the Clute Barrow Nelson Life
Foundation. Clute's foundation assists chil
dren with cancer and their families. If Clute
had lived, he would be in high school now.
Perhaps you would like to make a donation
to his foundation in honor of your favorite
teenager. Send checks (no cash) payable to:
The Clute Nelson Barrow Life Foundation, 320
Milledge Heights, Athens, GA, 30606.
Interfaith Hospitality Network: When I first
heard about IHN, it sounded like a kooky idea
to me. Homeless families join the network.
They live at participating churches for one
week at a time. During the day, while the chil
dren are either at school or in subsidized day
care, the parents go to work, look for work, or
participate in job training programs. The IHN
day center on Hancock Avenue offers classes
in life skills like living on a budget and par
enting classes.
What I found to be the case, though, is
that this is a great program. Sometimes peo
ple just need someone to give them a break,
and that is what this program does. I ran into
a former guest at the library a few weeks ago.
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8 FLAGPOLE.COM • DECEMBER 10,2008