Category: Making a Difference

Buckhead CID to give $50K to homelessness program

by John Ruch | Dec 9, 2018 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference, Perimeter Business | 0

The Buckhead Community Improvement District will contribute $50,000 in seed money to a major program aimed at solving chronic homelessness in the city. HomeFirst Atlanta, a joint effort of the city and the United Way’s Regional Commission on Homelessness, aims to raise $50 million and leverage even more funds for a variety of tactics to provide housing and otherwise reduce chronic homelessness. At the BCID’s Nov. 28 board meeting, member Thad Ellis of Cousins Properties said he and Executive Director Jim Durrett recently met with Jack Hardin, an Atlanta businessman well-known for his work on homeless assistance. Ellis said...

Blue Heron Nature Preserve receives wetland restoration funding

by Evelyn Andrews | Dec 6, 2018 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

Blue Heron Nature Preserve plans to restore 2.5 acres of wetlands on its Buckhead property with $71,000 in grant and other funding the nonprofit recently received. Blue Heron was chosen out 250 nationwide applicants to receive a $30,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for urban wetlands restoration, a Dec. 4 press release announced. Another $41,000 in matching funds was provided by local groups, including Blue Heron itself, the Atlanta Audubon Society, the Amphibian Foundation, the Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, Hands On Atlanta, Beech Hollow Farms and Marcy Scott, a local ichthyologist, according to the release....

Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber names ‘Woman of Distinction’

by Evelyn Andrews | Dec 2, 2018 | Making a Difference, People & Places, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce has named its 2018 “Woman of Distinction” as Trinita Ervin, an employee at Northside Hospital and founder of a nonprofit. “Now in its eighth year, the Woman of Distinction Award is annually given to a woman in the local community who has demonstrated exceptional leadership through professional endeavors and community involvement, has generously shared her time and talents to demonstrate a sense of social responsibility and has made a difference in Sandy Springs,” a press release said. Ervin was announced as the winner at the chamber’s Nov. 13 meeting, according to the release....

Solarize Dunwoody donates solar panels to Community Assistance Center

by Dyana Bagby | Nov 27, 2018 | Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The Community Assistance Center building on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs will soon be fitted with solar panels donated to the nonprofit organization by Solarize Dunwoody. The CAC, which provides food, shelter and clothing to Dunwoody and Sandy Springs residents facing emergency situations, is expected to save $2,000 a year on its electric bill through the new solar panels. “These savings will allow CAC to provide more benefits to our fellow residents in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, doubling the positive impact on the community by bringing stability to families and helping the environment.at the same time,” said CAC board...

Volunteers remove 700 pounds of trash from Brookhaven creek

by Dyana Bagby | Nov 13, 2018 | Brookhaven Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

Volunteers participating in the city of Brookhaven’s 2018 Stream Cleanup Event on Nov. 3 removed more than 700 pounds of trash and 20 tires from the North Fork Peachtree Creek near Briarwood Road in approximately two hours. The cleanup is part of readying for the expected groundbreaking next month of the Peachtree Creek...

Run raises money to rebuild arson-damaged school building

by Evelyn Andrews | Nov 11, 2018 | Brookhaven Reporter, Education, Making a Difference | 0

St. Martin’s Episcopal School held the Warrior 5K and Fun Run on Nov. 3 to raise money for a $5.5 million capital campaign as recovery from a July 2017 arson fire. Eighth-grader Truman Thompson won the 5K and sixth-grader Judson DiVenere won the Fun Run. The run raised more than $7,800 toward the campaign, which has not yet reached its goal, according to the school, which is located at 3110 Ashford-Dunwoody Road. But work on the new building is already underway with a January opening in the works. The first floor of the new building will be a “STEAM...

Bernie Marcus treated in Piedmont Hospital program his gift funded

by Evelyn Andrews | Oct 30, 2018 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist, received an advanced heart procedure this month at Buckhead’s Piedmont Hospital that his donation helped fund. Less than 24 hours later, he was able to tour the construction site of a new center he funded, the hospital said. The procedure was made possible by the Marcus Heart Valve Center established by The Marcus Foundation’s $20 million donation in 2012 that “brought cutting-edge care to metro Atlanta,” the hospital said. Marcus underwent the procedure, which replaced a damaged heart valve with an artificial one, Oct. 16, the hospital said. The operation was first performed in...

Sandy Springs ‘food rescue’ group wins grant

by Evelyn Andrews | Oct 17, 2018 | Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The James M. Cox Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to Second Helpings Atlanta, a local organization that “rescues” extra food to deliver to those in need and reduce food waste. The grant will go toward expanding the organization’s operations and reach in the metro area, according to a press release. “This significant grant allows us to sustain our growth in accordance with our strategic plan,” Sheri Labovitz, president of Second Helpings Atlanta, said in the release. “It is both a validation and a challenge to us to keep finding innovative ways to feed the hungry.” Second Helpings Atlanta,...

Anatomy Fashion Show lends hearts and hands to charity

by Reporter Newspapers | Oct 16, 2018 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow | 0

The house was packed, the music of DJ Khaled’s “No Brainer” with Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo blared from the speakers, and the models strutted their stuff down the runway, decked out in original designs depicting bones, muscles and organs. This was not your mother’s fashion show. It was the third annual Anatomy Fashion Show held Sept. 28 by Phi Delta Epsilon, the pre-med professional fraternity at Brookhaven’s Oglethorpe University. And those original designs? They were the systems and organs of the human body. The event was a fundraiser for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a member of...

Dunwoody Volunteer Day set for Oct. 13

by Dyana Bagby | Oct 4, 2018 | Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

Dunwoody residents are invited to join Trees Atlanta and the Daffodil Project on Oct. 13 from 9 a.m. to noon as part of Volunteer Day. Projects include tree plantings at Brook Run Park and Dunwoody Nature Center, daffodil planting at Brook Run Park and along the Dunwoody Trailway, general parks cleanup and sign cleaning throughout the city. Register through the Parks Registration Portal at dunwoodyga.gov/parks. This volunteer event will help plant thousands of daffodils in Brook Run Park in memory of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust and in support for children suffering in humanitarian crises...

Volunteers harvest Dunwoody Farmhouse pears for a cause

by Reporter Newspapers | Jul 21, 2018 | Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, Slideshow | 0

Volunteers harvested pears from a tree at the historic Dunwoody Farmhouse at Mount Vernon and Chamblee-Dunwoody roads on July 14. More than 280 pounds of pears were taken from the tree in the annual event and donated to the Community Assistance Center in Sandy Springs and Malachi’s Storehouse at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church on North Peachtree Road, both of which give groceries to those in need. Volunteers included City Councilmember John Heneghan and a group from Temple Emanu-El, among others. Photos by Phil Mosier. Pears come raining down from a tree onto a tarp held by volunteer harvesters Volunteers...

Toiletry drive for homeless veterans starts July 4

by John Ruch | Jul 4, 2018 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

A toiletry drive for homeless veterans, with a drop-off location in Sandy Springs’ medical center, will begin July 4 and run through Sept. 7. The seventh annual “Stand Up for Stand Down” drive is sponsored by the nonprofit Georgia District Pilot International Clubs and Georgia Cancer Specialists, an affiliate of Northside Hospital Cancer Institute. According to organizers, last year’s drive collected more than 10,000 pounds of toiletry items in 2,000 “comfort bags” – so many that excess items went to other nonprofits for distributions to hurricane survivors. The drive is seeking travel- or sample-size toiletry and personal care items,...

Out & About

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