Wednesday, September 19, 2001
|
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 |
|
Fayette rallies to nation's call By DAVE HAMRICK
Fayette residents during the past week have joined in the nationwide outpouring of aid and comfort for victims of last week's terrorist attacks, and have paused to remember those victims and pray for the nation. Local churches responded to President George W. Bush's call for prayer services at noon Friday, and also sponsored numerous other services throughout the week. America is experiencing "feelings of patriotism that my generation has not witnessed in a long time," said the Rev. Dr. Sam Matthews, pastor of Fayetteville First United Methodist Church, during prayer services there. "How wrong they were to think that [financial institutions] are the symbols of our nation," Matthews said, adding that the nation's churches, schools, neighborhood associations, charities and other human institutions are the true symbols of America. Students decorated school grounds with either yellow ribbons or red, white and blue bunting, and took up collections to help victims. Hundreds of residents turned out to give blood, and still hundreds more are expected to attend blood drives planned in Fayette County. But a blood drive scheduled for this past Sunday at Peachtree City Presbyterian Church was called off because current supplies far exceed demand, and blood has a finite shelf life. Donors are being asked to spread out their donations to future drives. Here are some other examples of past and future projects to help victims: The Salvation Army is asking for donations of work gloves, hard hats, men's work boots, flashlights and triple-A batteries to be used by volunteers digging through the rubble in New York City and Washington, D.C. The three Gold's Gyms of Fayette County will be serving as collection points for those items. The gyms are open seven days a week. Gold's Gym West is on the corner of Ga. Highway 74 and Aberdeen Parkway in Peachtree City (770-631-9901); Gold's Gym East is on Ga. Highway 54 near Publix, just outside of Peachtree City (770-487-4273), and Gold's Gym Fayetteville is on Ga. Highway 85 next to Big Lots (770-716-7090). The Hwy. 54 location also is serving as a collection point for monetary donations to the American Red Cross. For information, phone 770-631-2922. Students at Peachtree City Elementary School decorated the school grounds in red, white and blue, wrote letters to President Bush, and are collecting spare change to add to the relief effort. Local firefighters will accept donations this weekend for the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in New York. A boot drive which begins Friday and lasts through Sunday. Collections will be taken from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Citizens also can make donations at any of the 14 fire stations throughout the county. Checks should be made payable to The New York Firefighter and Red Cross Relief Fund. Joining Fayette County firefighters in the effort are the Peachtree City Fire and Rescue Department and the Fayetteville Fire Department. Barbara Grayson, a parent of two students at Spring Hill, Carly, second grade, and Andy, fifth grade, suggested that the school collect socks and baby wipes for the firemen in New York City. Grayson had heard reports that firemen involved in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center have to change their socks once every hour due to the buildup of dust and rubble and holes caused by friction from the concrete sidewalks. Baby wipes are needed to wipe the dust and sweat from the firemen's faces so that they can continue their task of searching for victims. Two large bins were placed in the front hallway of the school Monday morning and by 7:30 a.m. the bins were already filled to the top. The school continued to collect socks and baby wipes through yesterday, Sept. 18. Grayson plans to package the supplies and mail them to the New York City Fire Department today. Hoshizaki America Inc., which has a manufacturing plant in Peachtree City, has donated $20,000 of equipment to the disaster relief efforts in New York City. The company is donating refrigerators, ice and water dispensers, ice makers, walk-in coolers and an electrolyzed water system. "With a crisis of this nature everyone's life is touched," said Mark McClanahan, senior vice president. "I hope our donation in some way helps those who are supporting the rescue efforts." Volunteers from the Peachtree City Fire Department and Gold's Gym teamed up Saturday with Kroger to help raise money for the Red Cross. The volunteers stood outside the Braelinn Kroger at the invitation of manager Paul Yellina and asked shoppers to drop money into firefighters' boots. The group raised $4,348.30 working from 9:30 a.m to 4 p.m. All of the area Kroger stores are doing a "round-up," asking shoppers if they would like to round up their grocery bills to the nearest dollar, the extra money going to the relief effort. Gold's Gym will host a "spin-a-thon" Saturday, Sept. 29 to benefit the families of fallen firefighters in New York. The event will be at the Hwy. 74 location, Gold's Gym West. If there is sufficient participation, it will be expanded to the Hwy. 54 location. The fitness centers hope to fill up the bikes at both locations, and collect donations from the riders. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport had a moment of silent prayer in observance of the president's declaration of a national day of mourning. The airport invited passengers and employees to gather in the atrium of the main terminal building at noon Friday with Hartsfield chaplain R. D. Spears. A metro Atlanta resident, Terri Twitty, is challenging Fayette residents to emulate her project. She made up a flyer and, with the help of some neighbors, distributed them to all 200 houses in her subdivision. Three other neighbors agreed to use their homes as drop-off points for donations and the neighborhood recreation center served as a fourth drop-off point for the Red Cross Disaster Fund. By Monday, the small community had raised $2,918. For information call Twitty at 770-469-5566.
|
||