Even with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic hampering our everyday lives, we know there is a lot of good going on in North Georgia, as people step up to help to each other. AccessWDUN has been asking you to submit information about the good deeds happening in your communities, and we'll be sharing those over the next few weeks. Enjoy reading about all the 'Good Neighbors' in our region. If you have someone you'd like to salute, tell us about them by email at [email protected].
Sometimes a kind deed by one person has a ripple effect, spreading good to many. That's exactly what happened when one teacher at Chestatee Academy in Hall County decided to provide a meal for the family of one of her students.
Chestatee Academy Principal Jennifer Kogod said another teacher found out about the meal and emailed other staff members, just to give a pat on the back to a fellow teacher. She said that email prompted others to want to do something similar and a gift card initiative blossomed just in time for spring break.
"We just didn't want to miss out on that opportunity...so we came up with the idea of not only helping families but also supporting our local businesses in these difficult times," Kogod said.
The school administration reached out online and told the staff as well as other school families that they would be taking donations and buying $25 restaurant gift cards to deliver to struggling families during the week of spring break. The result, Kogod said, has been overwhelming.
"We had no idea the impact this was going to have and how many people were going to be part of this," Kogod said. "We have over 100 staff members that have supported [this], we have local businesses that have also given gift cards, we had one staff member who just went out within her subdivision and actually collected over $400."
Kogod said UPS has offered to deliver the gift cards to the families who have either been recommended by teachers or who have actually reached out and said they could use some help with a meal next week.
"This moment in time is so different from anything we've ever experienced before, so families that normally don't struggle we've seen an increase in those...many don't have a job right now or their hours have been reduced," Kogod said.
Not only is the gift card initiative about offering some help to school families, though; it's also about helping local businesses that have seen their incomes shrivel during the pandemic. The school has bought or received gift cards from Papa's Pizza, Sherry's Bait & Barbecue, Bluefin Hibachi, Longstreet Cafe, Dairy Queen and Longhorn, to name a few.
"Our local businesses are hurting, too," Kogod said. "It's so important that the people that usually provide and are our Partners in Education that we help them in these hard times."
The gift card distribution also takes on added significance since the Hall County School District will suspend meal deliveries during spring break. That service is expected to resume when online classes resume on April 13.
