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Left to right:
Nicole Glickman, Mariah McDaniel, Michelle Rioux and Elizabeth Glickman
Mariah McDaniel, Michelle Rioux, and Nicole
and Elizabeth Glickman collected morale items for our service members
overseas through the American Red Cross "Quality of Life" program. The
girls who received the list of items needed from their father said, "We
would like to thank the residents of Towne Lake Hills West for their generous
contributions. Also, special thanks go to Melissa at Melissa's Hallmark
for making it possible for so many Armed Services members to be able to
write home on special stationery." Melissa donated several stationery
packets for the Armed Services members.
Operation: Good
Samaritan
While Georgians go
to war, North Georgia United Methodist Conference goes to bat for their
families at home. Through "Operation: Good Samaritan," the needs of the
families of service men and women who have been called to active duty
are being met. Bascomb United Methodist Church member Paul Johns created
this program to relieve some of the pressure service men and women experience
when they must leave their families. "We wanted to use this program as
an outreach to the families so they know they are not alone," said Johns.
The project focuses on providing repair services for minor home emergencies
such as weather damage, plumbing problems and yard work. The North Georgia
Conference is focusing on helping this program expand by involving more
churches. "Here is an opportunity for us as a community to support each
other and provide as much help as possible," said Dr. Ed Tomlinson, Conference
Information Officer. For more information, please call (770) 926-9755
ext 300.
Publix and Kroger
Offer
Donation Options
Publix at Rose Creek
is providing an avenue for their customers to help our service men and
women call home. Through Operation Uplink, donations may be made at the
point of purchase. Operation Uplink is partnering with AT&T to send
cards with up to 35 minutes of time to our service men and women.
Kroger at Towne Lake is offering their customers
the option of rounding up their total purchase to the nearest dollar.
The change is then given to the Red Cross Relief Fund.
First Baptist
Church of Woodstock Preparing "Gift of Love"
First Baptist Church
of Woodstock is holding a food drive for the people of Iraq in conjunction
with the North American Mission Board and the Southern Baptist Convention.
The goal of the church is to send 500 boxes of food through the purchase
of pallets of food from Publix. On May 4, the congregation will come together
to shop and make purchases and pack boxes so that they will be ready to
be trucked to a main shipping point. The cost to assemble a box of dry
food that will feed a family of five for about a month is less than $60.
Jim Brown, Director of World Hunger and Relief Ministries for the International
Mission Board, has challenged everyone to help with the food relief program
for the hungry Iraquis.
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1st Lt. Nathan
Schmidt
No doubt there are several families in the
Towne Lake area who have service men or women in Iraq, either family members
or close friends. Here is one such service man, 1st Lt. Nathan Schmidt,
whose mom and dad, Martha and Bruce Schmidt, live in Eagle Watch. Nathan
is with the 6th Squadron, 6th Calvary Regiment flying an Apache helicopter
over Iraq. Nathan and his unit are stationed in Illesheim, Germany.
Operation Shoe
Box
Operation Shoe Box
is a program created by three moms who have or had children in the military.
The TowneLaker recently talked to one of the moms, Kandy Antich.
She said they wanted to do something for their own children and for as
many other soldiers as they could reach. This was the beginning of Operation
Shoe Box. Starting in their home town of Belleview, FL, Operation Shoe
Box has grown and encompass several states including Georgia.
Local resident and co-owner of Laney Travel,
Stephanie Laney, has been very instrumental collecting supplies for Operation
Shoe Box for our troops. Calling in several "markers," she has received
several dozen pairs of socks from a manufacturing company in Alabama.
She also contacted Why Wrap, a box manufacturer in Norcross, who donated
"shoe box" size boxes by the thousands, decorated with the 20 American
flags ever flown over America, to Operation Shoe Box.
Each box takes two
to three weeks to reach overseas and the average cost to mail each box
is $8 to $13. Operation Shoe Box tries to ship out 200 boxes each week.
"Our goal when we started this program was to reach as many service men
and women as possible. Anyone who would like to give us names and addresses
of service personnel, we welcome them and guarantee they will be included,"
Kandy says. Regarding the Department of Defense's request not to send
packages, Kandy says, "We have recently received an e-mail from the USS
Kittyhawk asking us to adopt them. So we are going full steam ahead with
our cause." For more information on Operation Shoe Box, please contact
Kandy Antich at 6111 SE Stetson Rd., Belleview, FL 34420.
Several people in the Towne Lake area have
wondered where could they go to help, or what supplies are needed. Bowen's
Tae Kwon Do has a box for items to ship to our troops and The TowneLaker
also has a box in our front lobby. There are several items
that can be purchased and dropped off at either one of these locations.
Some items on the list are: baby wipes, stationery, batteries, deodorant,
toilet paper, heat resistant candy, eye drops, waterless hand sanitizer,
dental floss, sun screen, playing cards, books, novels, disposable cameras
and razors. Bowen's Tae Kwon Do and The TowneLaker are both located
in the Towne Lake Village Center. For a more detailed list, please visit
redcross.org.
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