Two new members have been appointed to serve on the Jackson EMC Foundation Board of Directors. Dee Anderson, of Gwinnett County, and Towanna Johnson, of Barrow County, have been appointed to serve a three-year term by the Jackson EMC Board of Directors.
The 11-member volunteer board of directors meets to review and select grant applications for worthwhile, charitable purposes that will improve lives and respond to immediate needs.
Since Operation Round Up’s beginning more than 18 years ago, the Foundation has awarded more than $19 million through 1,853 grants to organizations and 423 grants to individuals.
Anderson
Dee Anderson is a 22-year resident of Gwinnett County, and the director of human resources for TranSouth Logistics in Braselton, with more than 25 years of experience. She is a long-time member of the Society for Human Resources Management and has been certified as an HR Professional.
Anderson is active in the community. She has served on the Jackson County Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors for five years, where she previously served as chairperson. She is a graduate of South Carolina State University and holds a master’s degree from St. Thomas University.
Johnson
Towanna Johnson is a lifelong resident of Barrow County and graduate of Barrow County High School. She is a vice president and director of customer experience at Georgia Banking Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Banking from Georgia Southern University and is a Forrester CX certified professional.
Johnson is Board Chair of Spirit of Sharing, a nonprofit organization in Winder providing food security, holiday outreach and positive youth development. She is a member of White Oak Baptist Church. Johnson and her husband, Dimitric, have one daughter.
Gwinnett to expand microtransit in two areas
Gwinnett is expanding its Ride Gwinnett service to include microtransit, an on-demand service beginning August 28. Riders will be able to request a shared-ride vehicle — typically a small van or shuttle — to travel to their destination within Snellville and Lawrenceville. This area includes the Centerville area to the Shoppes at Webb Gin and Northside Hospital to Sugarloaf Parkway.
The service will provide additional mobility options and allow for better connectivity and accessibility to medical resources, education, and points of interest. It will also provide brand new connections to areas of the county that are not currently served by transit, which opens the service to new customers and increases the transit destination options for residents by 41 percent. To learn more, visit RideGwinnett.com.
Gwinnett offers $6 million in Covid relief for businesses
Gwinnett commissioners have allocated $6 million to help small business owners. This is part of the $181 million the county got from the American Rescue Plan Act. The county is launching a Gwinnett Small Business Grant program to provide financial assistance to small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
A business is eligible if it experienced income loss or increased costs while continuing business during the pandemic. Estimated funds ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 will be awarded based on factors such as the number of employees, gross revenue, total applicant COVID impact, available funds and the number of applications received.
Applicants will be able to apply through an online application portal available in 68 languages. Applicants must present verification of business license and payroll records, as well as documentation of COVID-19’s impact on their business. A session to learn more about the Gwinnett Small Business Grant and apply for eligibility pre-screening at GwinnettCounty.com/SmallBusinessGrant. Applications for the grant officially open Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Peach State FCU creates new “first generation” scholarship
A new scholarship at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) will help first-generation college students reduce the cost of their education. Generally, first generation students are defined as those whose parents did not complete a four-year college or university degree.
Made possible by a $250,000 pledge to the Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation from Peach State Federal Credit Union (Peach State), the initiative, called The Peach State Federal Credit Union First-generation Scholars Program, will provide scholarships funded by an endowment. The endowment will allow this scholarship to live in perpetuity.
Once fully funded, The Peach State Federal Credit Union First-generation Scholars Program will provide a $2,500 scholarship to an incoming freshman. The scholarship can be renewed annually for four years, totaling $10,000.
GGC President Jann L. Joseph says: “This will be a very significant program for our students. In many cases, scholarships are the difference between students who drop out of school and those who move on to graduate.” Joseph adds that she’s thankful for the continuing support from Peach State, who have invested in GGC through academic scholarships, student engagement and participation in GGC’s Corporate Affiliates Program.
Peach State President/CEO Marshall Boutwell currently serves on the Board of Visitors in the college’s School of Business. Boutwell believes it is important that all students have the opportunity to better their lives and achieve their goals, and education is the key to that success.”
He adds: “We were founded more than 60 years ago by educators. Staying true to those roots is very important to us as a credit union and something that we strive to support through the work of the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation. We’re thrilled this endowment will create scholarships for first-generation students. It is our hope that this support will help them achieve their goals, and positively impact their lives and the lives of their families.”
More than 35 percent of GGC students are the first in their families to attend college. Data from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators shows that one in three undergraduates – or nearly five million students – identify themselves as first-generation students. In Georgia, nearly 38 percent of college students are the first in their families to attend college.
Many GGC students find internships rewarding
Grayson Scott was one of 17 students picked nationally for an internship with an office of the U.S. General Services Administration. Photos provided.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.—–Most college students take a break from their studies during the summer months, but a good number of proactive Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) students have spent that time learning career-defining skills as interns at a variety of companies and organizations. Following are four of their stories.
Grayson Scott, a Lawrenceville senior, landed an internship at the Atlanta office of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Professional Services and Human Capital. He was one of only 17 students selected for an internship position with the agency nationally, and the only college student from Georgia to do so. A typical internship day for Scott is filled with working on presentations and learning new technology and website software.
Ramos
Karen Ramos, also a senior from Lawrenceville, is a cinema and media arts production student in GGC’s School of Liberal Arts. Ramos is spending the summer as a videography intern at Camp Towanda, a co-ed sleep-away camp for kids in the picturesque Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. She found the internship through GGC’s Career Services office.
Ramos is responsible for videotaping all the activities the youngsters participate in at the camp, which has provided ample opportunity for her to work on her skills in capturing action on film, something she hopes to apply to a career in event or sports media videography when she graduates.
“I am getting great work experience,” she said. “I’m working with people who have the same interests, which is invaluable. I’ve been used to working by myself on school projects for the most part. I’m also learning a lot from my mentor, Erica, who is a professional editor. That’s something I’m interested in and not many people know how to do.”
Perez
Jezatbeth Perez, a junior from Mexicali, Mexico, studying nursing in GGC’s School of Health Sciences, found a summer internship at Northside Hospital Gwinnett by attending a hiring event.
“We help patients get up and move around, give them their food, and feed them, if necessary,” said Perez. “I’m in the cardiac intensive care unit, where some patients are intubated and right out of cardiac surgery, so every two hours, we turn them so they don’t get pressure sores.”
The internship will last as long as Perez is in school and requires a minimum participation of one day a month. After her first round of clinicals, Perez was awarded the Daisy Award, created to recognize and celebrate nursing students for the above-and-beyond care and compassion shown to patients and their families.
Suazo
Joel Suazo, a junior from Loganville studying biochemistry in the college’s School of Science and Technology, has been interning with Project SEED, an American Chemical Society research program that brings students from underserved backgrounds to college and university campuses for eight-to-ten weeks at host institutions like GGC, where they work alongside faculty to conduct scientific research.
Suazo participated in Project SEED as a high school student and continued his research when he enrolled in GGC. He has been working on a project with Dr. Ajay Mallia, associate professor of chemistry, trying to perfect extracting cyclotides from Australian Violets, which are pharmaceutically active self-healing materials that have huge potential for use as pharmaceutical drugs.
Suazo said the most surprising thing about being an intern in the program has been the load of his responsibility. “Working with these high school students made me realize how much professors do for their students,” he said. “There are a lot of people depending on them.”
Follow Us