Making a Difference - Reporter Newspapers

Solidarity Sandy Springs Food Pantry founder to speak at ‘Woman of Distinction’ luncheon

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 19, 2020 | Making a Difference, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The founder of a pandemic-relief food pantry will speak at an Oct. 28 Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce luncheon where the annual “Woman of Distinction” award-winner will be announced. Jennifer Barnes of Keller Williams Realty’s Barnes Young Team created the Solidarity Sandy Springs Food Pantry earlier this year. Initially it was housed in the restaurant Under the Cork Tree at 5600 Roswell Road, which is where the luncheon will be held. The food pantry is currently housed in a former Publix grocery store in the same shopping center, the Prado, at 5630 Roswell Road. The luncheon, run by...

Sandy Springs Education Force’s fundraiser races and step challenge go virtual Nov. 1-15

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 13, 2020 | Coronavirus, Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The Sandy Springs Education Force will hold a virtual version of its “Footprints for the Future” fundraiser race Nov. 1-15. Proceeds from the 10K/5K/1K and step challenge will help fund the Education Force’s work to support Sandy Springs’ public school students, who have missed much in-person instruction during the pandemic. Runners and walkers can create or join teams. The largest public-school team and biggest community or corporate team will receive awards. Registrants can create individual fundraisers in support of the Education Force. Participants in the 10K/5K/1K events can choose their own route, where they run and on which day...

New Children’s Healthcare hospital named for Arthur Blank after $200M donation

by Erin Schilling | Oct 12, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Making a Difference, Top Stories | 0

The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has named its newest hospital, located in Brookhaven, for Arthur Blank after a $200 million donation from his foundation. The Arthur M. Blank Hospital, a $1.5 billion project located near the I-85 and North Druid Hills Road interchange, is set to open in 2025. The donation from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is the largest in Children’s Healthcare’s history, according to a press release. “It’s a great honor for me and my family to be connected to Children’s, and a great honor for us to be connected to a system that has dealt...

CAC and Sandy Springs Society fundraisers go virtual

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 7, 2020 | Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

Two of Sandy Springs’ biggest charitable fundraisers will have virtual versions this year due to the pandemic: the Sandy Springs Society’s “Evening of Elegance” and the Community Assistance Center’s “Vintage Affair.” Evening of Elegance The “Evening of Elegance” into a Nov. 5 virtual event to raise funds for local nonprofits. The Elegant Elf Marketplace fundraiser that usually follows has been canceled this year due to the pandemic. The Evening of Elegance honorary chairs are husband-and-wife team Vince Dooley, a former University of Georgia football coach, and motivational speaker Barbara Dooley; and Steve Penley, an artist whose work is part...

Hebrew Order of David donates van to Jewish Family & Career Services

by Erin Schilling | Sep 27, 2020 | Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

The Jewish Family & Career Services on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody has a new van thanks to a donation from the Hebrew Order of David. The van, which is wheelchair accessible, will be used to take people who participate in the Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Services to medical appointments, recreational activities and volunteer opportunities, according to a press release. The IDDS offers programs and services to people with disabilities as well as their families and caregivers, according to its website. The van was donated in memory of Dunwoody resident and HOD leader Alan Rubenstein, according to the press release....

Brookhaven approves funding for Trees Atlanta program to plant more front-yard trees

by Erin Schilling | Sep 17, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Making a Difference, Top Stories | 0

Brookhaven will participate in the Trees Atlanta “Neighborwoods Program” for the second year in a row, hoping to have more trees planted than last year. During a Sept. 8 meeting, City Council approved a $10,000 contract with Trees Atlanta to support the city’s Front Yard Tree Program, where members of the nonprofit will plant trees in residents’ front yards. Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit that aims to protect Atlanta’s trees and green space, started the Neighborwoods Program in 2001 to plant more trees and educate residents in the metro Atlanta area about the importance of trees. The program operates in...

DeKalb Library Foundation hosts online fundraiser for internet assistance program

by Erin Schilling | Sep 16, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

DeKalb Library Foundation is hosting an online fundraiser to support the DeKalb County Public Library’s internet assistance program. The online “Stay Home to Support the Library” fundraiser replaces the foundation’s annual “A Novel Affair: Tapas + Trivia” event, which will not happen this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations will go toward the Take the Internet Home with You program, which allows people to check out an internet hotspot from any branch of the library for 21 days, according to a press release. The foundation asks people to donate by Sept. 30 here. “The COVID-19 pandemic exposed just...

We Love BuHi names a director of development

by Erin Schilling | Sep 12, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

We Love BuHi has named a director of development. Natalia Garzón, a recent graduate of Emory University, is filling the newly created position at the nonprofit, according to a Sept. 2 press release. We Love BuHi Executive Director Lily Pabian said the director of development’s primary focus will be finding grant opportunities and conducting fundraising campaigns that further We Love BuHi’s mission to preserve the different cultures along Buford Highway, a famous immigrant corridor that runs through Brookhaven. “When I came to Atlanta, I was nervous that I would not feel the familiarities of my heritage,” said Garzón, who...

Buckhead Heritage volunteers clean New Hope AME’s historic cemetery

by John Ruch | Sep 3, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

About 50 Buckhead Heritage Society volunteers arrived at a local cemetery Aug. 8 to honor local history and engage with the racial justice issues sweeping the nation. The local history nonprofit teamed with the New Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church at 3012 Arden Road, a 150-year-old congregation that is working to preserve its site, including a cemetery dating to at least 1889. “This service project is an opportunity to bring people together to give back to our community,” said Ivan Allen IV, a Buckhead Heritage board member and membership committee chair, in a press release. “We believe there is...

Around Town: Buckhead resident helps Georgia Audubon spread its wings

by Joe Earle | Sep 3, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Commentary, Dunwoody Reporter, Making a Difference, People & Places, Sandy Springs Reporter, Slideshow | 0

When Esther Stokes moved into a new home in Brookwood Hills a couple of years ago, the yard sprouted many familiar flowering plants with roots in foreign places. Now those imports are disappearing. Stokes is replacing her azaleas and camellias with Joe Pye weed, cardinal flowers and other types of greenery that grew up here in the wild. With her new plantings, Stokes, a landscape designer by trade, is going native. Why? Because her garden is for the birds. It’s a bit for the bees, too. Also, the bugs, to tell the truth. But it’s mostly for the birds...

Buckhead’s Chastain Park Conservancy to move into new HQ

by John Ruch | Sep 2, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference | 0

The Chastain Park Conservancy is preparing to move into its new headquarters in a former city Department of Watershed Management garage off Powers Ferry Road. The original home of the group, which helps to program the park, was a 1940s structured called the Barn that was destroyed in a fire early last year. The Conservancy has operated from a temporary office at Chastain Horse...

Buckhead Rotary offers $75K in grants to local parks programs

by John Ruch | Aug 18, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Making a Difference, Top Stories | 0

The Buckhead Rotary Club is offering $75,000 in grants over the next three years for programming in local parks. The charitable club will offer a total of $25,000 per year “to support programming and community engagement activities in public and private Buckhead parks,” according to a press release. The funding is in the form of a reimbursement and requires an application process. Club President Mark Johnson made the “Buckhead Parks Initiative” grants his “signature project,” a Rotary tradition of a presidential three-year project helping the community while providing volunteer opportunities for members. The Rotarian volunteer aspect will be part...