Sweaters for Seniors display at Chick-Fil-A in Athens, GA

As Marketing Director for Alternative Home Care for Seniors, it’s my job to get the word out about our company.  I like my job, because I work for people who offer a really important service. Secondly, its one of few businesses these days designating a major percentage of their marketing budget (my time and efforts since August) to a community service project:  Sweaters For Seniors. Finally, I like to write, report, create and fit together the constantly changing puzzle pieces. Everyday is different and you never know what will happen next. Case in point yesterday when I stopped by Chick-Fil-A in Athens, GA. After we unexpectedly were able to bring Michelle Brinson and the Athens Community Council on Aging into the fold last month, Chick-Fil-A on the Atlanta Hwy in Athens stepped up to help! So gracious were they—No committee meetings were held. No trip to Athens to set-up a display was needed. No stuffing an industrial sized garbage barrel into my VW Beetle. (Yes, it can be done. Believe me!) All it took to for AHCS to partner with Chick-Fil-A in Athens were a few old fashioned emails back and forth between Marketing Director, Sarah Millender and myself! So, imagine my surprise yesterday when I stopped by the restaurant in NE Georgia. Over in the corner was a beautiful table display with a Chick-Fil-A poster tablecloth. On top was my emailed poster they’d laminated and set-up. Next to it was a handwritten sign in true “Go Dawgs UGA spirit.” It said “Help us collect Sweaters For Seniors.” Most exciting was the heap of sweaters at the top of the table. The Athens community and Chick-Fil-A’s customers had come through for Sweaters for Seniors in such a short time.  What a joy!

Michelle Brinson (right), Program Director, Senior Community Employment Service Program, stands next to a trainee she's trying to help get employment

Last Friday, the “S4S” team had the chance to meet with Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA). The meeting, which came about through the magic of social media, was to discuss our newly formed partnership with them in our “sweaters” project.

It was through a friend of S4S’s Linkedin account, (Joan Curtis) that Michelle Brinson, Program Director, Senior Community Employment Service Program found us. She took the proverbial ”ball” of yarn and ran with it. And next thing you know, Sweaters For Seniors, up until now an Atlanta/Gwinnett program, will be benefitting seniors in Athens, too.

While we spent a few hours in Athens on Friday having lunch with Michelle, meeting with ACCA directors and touring their senior center and day care facility housed in an historic railroad depot–it’s impossible to fully comprehend all that ACCA is doing for seniors in Athens. Although, feel free to check out their website. I also hear they have an amazing newsletter!

With that said, today I simply want to acknowledge the committed individuals we met who make up a comprehensive team dedicated to the well being of seniors in Athens. They are:
Eve R. Anthony, Co-Deputy Executive Director; Sarah McKinney, Program Director, Home Delivered Meals; Paige Tidwell, Program Director, Kinship/Project Healthy Grandparents; and last but not least, Michelle Brinson,  Program Director, Senior Community Employment Service Program 

Keep up the tremendous work, ladies. And we look forward to working with you on “Sweaters For Seniors.”