Charity Concert Nets Largest Donation Yet

A free charity concert sponsored by local school choirs raised over $2,600 in donations for the Joseph Sams School.

Choirs from Cleveland Elementary, Inman Elementary, Fayetteville Intermediate, Bennett’s Mill Middle, Fayette Middle and Fayette County High, along with the high school’s wind ensemble, collected the concert’s largest donation in its 5-year history, and more than doubled what was raised last year.

The concert was held December 4 at Harp’s Crossing Baptist Church. All of the proceeds raised directly benefit the Joseph Sams School. This marks the second consecutive year the special needs school has been the concert’s benefactor.

“We really like the idea of a local charity because, as it turns out, many members of the audience have friends or family who have been impacted by the school. Many people came up after the concert telling us stories of children they know who have been influenced by the Sams School,” says Christina Owens, music teacher/chorus director at Fayetteville Intermediate.

The idea for the concert originally began five years ago with Lisa Howe, assistant principal of Fayetteville Intermediate who was teaching music at Cleveland Elementary at the time, retired Fayette County High Band Director Kenny Beard and Fayette County High Choral Director Richard Prouty.
They wanted to find a way to give back to the community and involve the schools that feed into Fayette County High.

“I presented the idea to our cluster during the music teacher’s meeting in the fall of 2005. I told everyone that I wanted this to be a concert that gave back to the community and also that I wanted the donations to help support a children’s charity,” says Prouty.

In previous years, the concert collected toys for Toys for Tots. Last year marked the first time the concert collected monetary donations for the Joseph Sams School. Organizers are not sure if the concert will benefit the school next year, but they plan to stay with local charities.

“The concert is a great experience for our students. It helps them learn compassion and giving at a young age,” Owens comments.

------
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
Twitter: @FayetteFP

Purple Hair for a Great Cause

Staff members at Inman Elementary are sporting some colorful new hairdos this spring.

Visitors walking into the front office might do a double take when they see school clerk Sharon Langston sporting purple hair extensions. She, along with paraprofessional Cheryl Schwertfeger and school counselor Leslie Fear, agreed to wear the extensions if the students could raise $300 to benefit cancer research for Relay for Life.

Anxious to see the staff members in purple hair, the students came through with flying colors collecting $460 for the school’s Relay for Life fundraiser.





-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

Fayette County Pro Golfer Organizes Tournament for Special Needs Students

Johan Kok (right) addresses tournament participants as Chris Horton, director of the Exceptional Children’s Department of the Fayette County School System, looks on.

A former McIntosh High School of Peachtree City graduate turned professional golfer paid it forward by hosting a golf tournament to benefit special needs students in Fayette County schools.

Johan Kok, who graduated from McIntosh in 1998, organized and hosted the “Golf for Autism” tournament recently held at the Flat Creek Golf Club in Peachtree City. 72 golfers turned out to have fun and raise money for a worthy cause.

The Exceptional Children’s Department of the Fayette County School System was the primary recipient of the tournament’s funds. Secondary recipients were the ASPIRE after school program of the Joseph Sams School and the support group, Fayette ExceptionalOPS, which serves students and parents of students with special needs.

In addition to the tournament, a raffle was held and included prizes such as golf bags donated by Ernie Els, a well-known professional golfer and spokesperson for Autism Speaks. Additional sponsors included Ed Voyles Chrysler/Jeep, Georgia Shrimp Company, Bloomfield Farms/Blend Pack, J & H Southern Construction, Mark Gray Insurance, Peachtree Pain and Body, Northstar Mortgage Group, Gary G. Lawson, ExceptionalOPS, AES Cabinets, Kate’s Liquor, Bulldog Supply, Tom and Buffie Davenport, Uniglobe McIntosh Travel and Discount Golf Shop.

Kok hopes to make the tournament an annual event. He played on the professional golf tour in Europe and South Africa before returning to the United States in 2007.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Hospice Advantage Celebrates November as National Hospice Month

BB Note: Hospice Advantage has been active in Fayette County for the last two years.

Millions of people received care from hospice professionals this year. In honor of all those individuals that work so hard to ensure that people have a choice to receive care at home, Hospice Advantage is celebrating November as National Hospice Month by honoring their employees and community partners and reaching out to educate people in the communities they serve.

“Our patients often tell us that they wish they knew about us sooner. We are dedicating this year’s National Hospice Month celebrations to education in our communities.” says Jeanne Pete, Director of Business Development at Hospice Advantage. “There are many benefits to hospice, including financial benefits. Many people do not know that the Medicare hospice benefit includes payment of medications, equipment and supplies related to the hospice diagnosis.

Many people also don’t know that hospice can promote longer life.” A recent study published in the Journal of Pain and Palliative Symptom Management indicates that patients suffering from Chronic Heart Failure that choose hospice care, lived an average of 81 days longer than patients with CHF that did not choose hospice care. Mrs. Pete adds, “We want people to know that they should not wait until the final days or weeks of life to choose the help of hospice.”

To celebrate National Hospice Month, Hospice Advantage will recognize employees at their annual awards banquet held in Miami, FL. Caregivers of the year will be rewarded for exemplifying the company’s tag line of Care, Comfort and Compassion. The events at participating facilities in their communities will include free health screenings, education about advanced directives and educational videos on Hospice.

In Michigan and Wisconsin, HOME & HOSPICE ADVANTAGE provides Home Health and Hospice services. Additionally, the company provides Hospice services throughout Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Missouri. In FL, the company operates a home health care agency d.b.a. ALL CARE MEDICAL SERVICES.

For Information, call Hospice Advantage Fayetteville Ga 678-817-4180.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Lynn Wheeler Benefit Golf Tournament a Big Success

July 14th's Lynn Wheeler Benefit Golf Tournament at Eagle’s Brooke County Club in Locust Grove, Ga., was a big success, thanks to 88 golfers, 30 volunteers, Covenant Presbyterian Church and a host of sponsors dedicated to lending a helping hand to the Wheeler family.

Covenant Presbyterian, located in Fayetteville, Ga., hosted the event as a benefit for Lynn Wheeler, wife of the head of the Clayton State University Music Department, Dr. Douglas Wheeler. The personification of determination and courage, Lynn Wheeler was diagnosed with cancer in February 2005. She went into remission in September of that same year, only to suffer a serious spinal injury in an auto accident on Christmas Day, 2005, an accident that has confined her to a wheelchair and breathing with the help of a respirator.

Undaunted, the Wheelers, who reside in Stockbridge, Ga., have remained strong members of Covenant Presbyterian, and Lynn continues to serve in the church’s children’s ministry and to teach piano. The tournament featured a clinic by former PGA touring professional Greg Powers, lunch by Chick-Fil-A, door prizes, raffles, longest drive and closest to the pin contests, and a new 2008 Ford, courtesy of Allan Vigil Ford, for a hole-in-one. Although no one claimed the Ford, the $5000 in raffle prizes were much appreciated by the winners.

Action on the course saw first place go to the team of; Louis Brown, Michael Joiner (who also won the Grand Prize drawing… clearly it was his day), Lovell Camp, Terry Starr. The second place team was headed up by former ARC and Clayton County Commission chair Crandle Bray, and included Sammy Craig, David Hughes and Tom Ellis.

Third place went to the David Pearson, Will Tomasello, Todd Greek and Adam Depoe. Not winning any golfing prizes, but playing to support the Wheelers, were Clayton State President Dr. Thomas K. Harden, Athletic Director Mason Barfield, golf coach Barry Harwell, Vice President for External Relations Robert “Steve” Stephens, and Clayton State Director of Development Reda Rowell, who, rumor has it, actually outdrove Harwell, a former PGA pro, on one hole. However, Lucy Joiner won the Longest Drive prize and Hughes the Closest to the Hole prize. Rowell vows to do better next time.

Other VIPs in the tournament included Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, Dr. Kuo Lee (Med Cross Imaging), Doug Wheeler, and former state senator Terrell Starr.

“We wanted to thank so many people from Clayton State who supported the Benefit Golf Tournament on Monday,” says Doug Wheeler. “We were really overwhelmed with all those who played and contributed in some way.”

Approximately $16,000 was raised by the event, with a net of $12,000 for the Wheelers.