Acts of Kindness: Stories of the community helping one another during the pandemic
Nov. 4—In times like these, the good in people shines.
Since March 2020, the MDJ has been reporting on acts of kindness, goodwill and generosity during the coronavirus pandemic.
If you know of an instance of benevolence — on any scale — and are willing to share with MDJ readers, tell us your story.
Send an email to mdjnews@mdjonline.com with the subject line: Act of Kindness.
Nov. 4
The First Christian Church Of Mableton's parking lot was full of cars on Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. waiting to be served by the Junior League, the South Cobb Lions Club and church volunteers. By 7 p.m. almost 167 families had been provided with potatoes, green beans, Post Fruity Pebbles, soup mix, salad dressing and ice cream bars that were supplied and delivered by Sweetwater Mission. Executive Minister Barry Smith motivated us by quoting Matthew 25 where Jesus says: "Insomuch as you have visited the sick, ... given food to the hungry, given clothing to the naked, ... visited the imprisoned, you have done for me." It was a great way to get the event underway.
-Barry Krebs
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Dayco HVAC in Acworth started their new annual Heat or AC for Heroes and asked the public and staff for nominations. The below letter is from a friend of a neighbor of Dayco HVAC technician Bryan Zinn. Due to the very important need of AC during the extreme heat of summer, the company decided to help and gave Air Force veteran Jim Beilfuss a free AC unit and labor time for free.
Beilfuss' letter:
My name is Jim Beilfuss and I served in the U.S. Air Force from '87 to '92. While in the service, I broke my back but it was not properly cared for. 13 surgeries later, still trying to deal with it all. Lynn and I have been married for 28 years, with 3 children and 1 happy grand baby! We are loving life here in GA. We moved here 7 years ago to get away from the bitter cold up north. Since being paralyzed, I have been introduced to adaptive sports and now I live to compete in wheelchair softball on Team USA, wheelchair basketball, adaptive golf, throwing the discus, javelin, and shot put in the veteran's wheelchair games and adaptive CrossFit.
Being paralyzed has come with its downs, like not being able to regulate my body temperature, among other things.
Beilfuss' comments following the installation:
We are so thankful to Bryan Zinn and Dayco's sincere employees for all they've done to help us! The gift of an AC unit and install could not have come at a more crucial time. Thank you for blessing us as a family and for your continued support of the veteran community.
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Nov. 2
Great Day on Oct. 28 in the Riverside/Austell community at Riverside Thrive n treat Fall Fest in partnership with Premier Learning Academy and We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association.
Attendees enjoyed Kona Ice snow cones, nachos, corn on the cob, pizza, music and games.
Thank you to Barry Krebs for delivering the Keep Cobb Beautiful supplies, Geneva Vanderhorst, Leonard Butts insurance agency, Cobb County Department of Transportation and Colored only cafe for their community partnership.
-Monica DeLancy, We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association
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October 29
Keep Cobb Beautiful conducted the annual Medication Take Back on Oct. 29 whereby over 200 cars drove through two designated Cobb Senior Centers to drop off their expired medications. The drugs will be disposed of where they do not end of in our soil and waterways. We appreciate Officer Pharr and Officer Hill for leading the effort.
The Friends Of Mableton with a little help from MIC and Lions Club removed 25 bags of litter from their adopted James Road and some nearby high traffic destinations including Bay Breeze Seafood Restaurant, Full Throttle and The Green Room on Oct. 29. The whole area looks much better now.
If you or your friends want to adopt-a-mile, please reach out to Dawn at keepcobbbeautiful@cobbcounty.org. She will provide you with everything that you need.
Sweetwater Mission hosted The Waverly Mobile Home Park Meals On A Mission on Oct. 28. We have some great volunteers from Cobb On-Line Learning Academy as well as our regulars from the First Christian Church of Mableton and Lions Club. Together, we were able to serve 175 families with Starbucks Ground Coffee, Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars, Duncan Hines Cake Mix, Quaker Cereal, Hello Fresh Side Dishes, frozen dinners, produce and frozen cakes. Overall, we had a terrific time working as a team to help our friends.
-Barry Krebs
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October 27
Great day in the Riverside Community/unincorporated Austell community at the Thrive Resource Mobile Center located at Silver Creek Crossing Apartments. Thrive youth participated in the Read to Succeed mobile library. Which is one of their semester of service community service projects. Thrive youth selected books to take home to read to their parents, brothers, sisters and neighbors. The Little Free Library is under renovation along with the center, however we are continuing with our services and outreach to the community.
Having books in the home is proven to positively benefit children in a myriad of ways. A two-decade long study found that the mere presence of a home library increases children's academic success, vocabulary development, attention and job attainment.
-Monica DeLancy, We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association
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October 26
The Haven of Help who specializes in student mentoring hosted mock
interviews on Oct. 22 at the Powder Springs Library.
The students were interviewed by various professional and community leaders from the South Cobb area. The students arrived looking sharp in their business attire with updated resumes in hand. They have been practicing their interviewing skills and these mock interviews served as a means of handling tough and unexpected questions.
All of the students were very impressive and they will have a big advantage when it comes time to enter the workforce. Organizer
Quintasha Swanson stated, "I'm so proud of each of them. They are work ready!"
-Barry Krebs
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October 25
AutoNation Inc. kickstarted its annual Drive Pink (DRVPNK) Across America Day with Associates in AutoNation stores from coast-to-coast filling thousands of Totes for Hope cancer comfort bags and delivering to hospitals, treatment centers and cancer facilities in their local markets.
At AutoNation Honda Thornton Road, associates assembled and delivered Totes for Hope to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.
AutoNation has made DRVPNK and its mission to end cancer its singular philanthropic objective and an integral part of its culture, having raised and donated nearly $35 million to cancer charities since 2013.
For more information, visit www.autonation.com/our-purpose/drive-pink.
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The South Cobb Lions Club assisted the First Christian Church of Mableton in removing 17 bags of litter from their adopted section of Old Alabama Road on Oct. 22. It was a lot of fun after the sun came out. If you or your church are interested in learning more about the adopt-a-mile program, contact Dawn at keepcobbbeautiful@cobbcounty.org. She can provide you with all of the details.
STING Inc. student mentoring organization completed their Adopt-A-Street litter clean-up of their section of Austell Powder Springs Road the morning of Oct. 22. It started off a little chilly. But the weather quickly warmed up. It was a lot of fun and the road looks much better now.
There is a new Adopt-A-Street program within the City of Austell. To find out more, contact Quintasha at qswanson@austellga.gov. She will set you up with everything that you need.
The South Cobb Lions Screen Team completed this season's vision tests in the Cobb County schools. On Oct. 24, South Cobb High School invited our screen team to test 373 students. The event was very organized and went quickly thanks to the Marietta Lions Club who provided an extra machine. We anticipate that we screened over 3,000 students in the past two and a half months. We want to give a special "thank you" to Lion Darlene Duke and Lion Diane Stewart for making all of the arrangements. It was a delight meeting the students, staff and teachers in each location. We are already looking forward to next year.
-Barry Krebs
