On New Year's Eve, while most of us were celebrating and making our resolutions for 1999, a young husband and father lost his life while fighting a deliberately-set fire at a church in northeast Georgia. Just 27 years old, Banks County Fire Captain Kennon Loy Williams died while helping other firefighters exit the out-of-control fire at a local church.

Capt. Williams was a member of a proud fraternity of over 24,000 volunteer firefighters in Georgia; men and women who put their lives on the line, not for a paycheck, but as a service to their community. Capt. Williams was returning home from a dinner with his wife and family when the call went out, and like many other volunteers, Capt. Williams put his personal life on hold to fight the fire that would ultimately claim his life.

I write this letter as my way of making a plea to Fayette County residents to help by making a donation to the wife and 9-year-old daughter that Capt. Williams left behind. There is no better way to honor this brave man's memory than by helping to see to it that his family is provided for.

Please send your donations to:

Regions Bank

Captain Kennon Loy Williams Fund

P.O. Box 247

Homer, GA 30547

Attention: Reba McClure

Thank you.