Because of you, we delivered 178 Forever Bags to our area CASA organizations for our local children in foster care! These bags, packed with care throughout the month of April by incredible volunteers like you, will be given to children in the foster care system throughout our region when they have to move to a new living situation. These bags are full of hygiene and hair care items, books, clothing, and more.

Thank you to St. Mary's Health Care System who collected items at all their locations in our region; to the UGA students who helped pack bags; to the individual donors who delivered packed bags; to the Athens Community Council on Aging staff who filled superhero bags; and everyone else who delivered items with which to fill these bags. You stepped up to bring joy and ownership to more children around our region. This is truly a #LiveUnited kind of moment.

Dr. Dawn Meyers, one of our newest Board members, is a dedicated educator who has been serving the students in Clarke and surrounding counties for years. Currently the Social Emotional Learning Specialist for the Foothills Education Charter High School, Dawn helps develop the health, mental health and social emotional learning framework to support her students. Prior to working for Foothills, Dawn served in the Clarke County School District for 22 years as a school social worker and district level administrator.

Foothills is a public charter high school that offers non-traditional, evening, self-paced instruction designed to support varied student needs while they earn an accredited Georgia high school diploma. Foothills has 14 locations in counties all around North Georgia, three sites in state prisons, serves the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, and has a fully virtual site as well. If you want to learn more about Foothills, the website is: https://www.foothillscharter.org/

Before officially joining our Board of Directors, Dawn served as a Grant Review Panelist for our Community Impact grants. During her time as a panelist, she shared her expertise and experience in reviewing outcomes and outputs of potential grantees all while learning more about the needs and resources across Northeast Georgia. Dawn and her husband, David, live in Athens and have three children ages 22, 20 and 17.

We are so grateful for Dawn and her service to our region. Thanks for being an active part of the United Way of Northeast Georgia team!

In the sixth deployment from the COVID-19 Community Response Fund, the Northeast Health District of Georgia Department of Public Health received $100,000 to increase equitable outreach and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The fund, hosted by the Athens Area Community Foundation in partnership with United Way of Northeast Georgia, is proud to support the effort to vaccinate our region and keep everyone healthy and safe. Since that deployment on April 5, there have been multiple free, walk-up vaccine sites in our region that are accessible via foot traffic and public transportation. Most recently, a vaccine clinic was held in Auburn, Georgia at the Perry-Rainey Center. Presidents of both organizations - Kay Keller and Sarah McKinney - were able to visit the distribution site, which gave people the choice of their vaccine, information on follow-up and additional healthcare services.

Our local nonprofits are working hard to serve our community members and they need your help. Tune in to our newsletter to see the newest job opportunities at our local nonprofits. If you are a nonprofit with job openings, please email Alison Alwes to be included in next month's newsletter.

Athens Community Council on Aging - Winder Adult Day Health, Health & Activity Care Partner

ACTION Inc. - Program Director and Career Coach

Books for Keeps - Executive Director

The Cancer Foundation - Operations Manager

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia - Donor Relations Officer

Jackson County Habitat for Humanity - Communications and Development Director

Just a friendly reminder to submit your 2020-2021 Workplace Campaign results form to Elizabeth Earl via email. Thank you for your contributions to United Way of Northeast Georgia.