November 9, 2004
This isn't just your ordinary Peachtree Corners neighborhood barber and style shop. Owner
Gloria Rucks is a determined woman with a noble mission. She has taken it upon herself to organize a huge project that she calls Help our Troops 2004 (HOT 2004). Gloria sends care packages filled with donated socks, power bars, baby wipes, sunscreen, Moon pies and Pringles, and other useful items to our troops in Iraq. She ships to all service branches and is now working on the U.S. Marines in Fallujah. Gloria has already shipped 910 boxes and has 800 more to go. It costs $10.70 for one carton to be shipped to Iraq.
The rear section of the barbershop is filled with stacks of collapsed mailing cartons and boxes and boxes of donated items to be shipped. If you would like to volunteer some time to help Gloria pack boxes, or send her some money for postage or goods, here is her information:
Barber & Style Shop
5450 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 2D
Norcross, GA. 30092
(770) 825-0007
Gloria told me that many folks have slammed the door in her face as she works to keep this project going, if you can imagine that! In fact, the Norcross police paid her a visit because somebody reported her as a scam. Now the police stop by regularly and pick up an empty box and return it full of donated items ready to be shipped.
Gloria and her project have been featured on CNN. In fact, I received a phone call from a woman in Los Angeles who wanted to help Gloria, but needed some information as to how to find her. That was a connection I was pleased to make! I love it when The Weekly Online can be useful. The Norcross News has helped Gloria get the word
out. All donated funds are going to the troops via the care packages.
I'm including a list of requested items from our troops. Perhaps you can obtain a donation from wherever you trade or perhaps you will include some of these items in your shopping cart the next time you go to the grocery store and pass them along to Gloria Rucks:
Troops can use Chap Stick, baby wipes, bug spray, odor eaters, Vaseline lotion, sunscreen, white cushion sole crew socks, Moon pies, Pringles, Tang, Power bars, tootsie rolls, peanuts (small containers), beef jerky, chewing gum, tuna in foil packets, Kool-aid, Crystal Lite, Vienna sausages, and, of course, letters of support from home.
Hope you all will be inclined to help out in some way. This moral support project for our troops is worth your time and money. Thank you, Gloria, for doing this!
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Here is an interesting letter we hope you will want to copy and send to your congressman and U.S. Senator regarding the Bush Administration's proposal to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The deadline for public comment is November 15, 2004.
"As a concerned citizen, I am writing to urge the Forest Service to withdraw the Bush Administration's proposal to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
"The Roadless Rule is a well-balanced and reasonable policy that was finalized after two decades of scientific study, 600 public meetings held across the country, and a historic 1.7 million public comments received in support of the rule. This rule guarantees protection for our national forests, which provide 60 million Americans with pure drinking water, habitat for thousands of species of wildlife, and countless recreational opportunities nationwide. While protecting our rivers and national forests, the rule allows for new roads to be built in case of fires and to ensure public safety. To date, 2.5 million comments have been logged in support of this rule, making it the most popular rule in our history.
"Over and above its environmental benefits, the Roadless Rule makes economic sense. Currently, the Forest Service has a backlog of $8 million in maintenance and reconstruction costs for existing roads that still need to be fixed and will only continue to deteriorate. Not only will costs continue to rise if more roads are cut through forests, but the environmental consequences will become more severe over time. The Roadless Rule would prevent additional costs to both the forest Service and our environment.
"Thus far, more than half of the land within our country's national forests has been exposed to various types of development that all require road building. This disruption of our forests has already altered their ability to provide clean drinking water to tens of millions of people and safe habitats for thousands of species of wildlife. In addition, once a road is built through an untouched area, the federal agencies responsible for that land cannot recommend it for wilderness protection by Congress. The Bush Administration has already removed Alaska's Tongrass and Chugach National Forests from the Roadless Rule and is fiercely determined to bring an end to the rule most vital to the preservation of our national forests.
"I strongly urge the Forest Service to withdraw the Bush Administration's proposal and keep the Roadless Area Conservation Rule intact.
"Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this crucial issue."
My friends, the wilderness areas in this country must be preserved or we will turn into a denuded fiasco such as has already happened to areas in India, Africa, Russia, and some of the Caribbean islands. I'm a believer of recognizing a "window of opportunity" when I see one, and this opportunity to weigh in with the U.S. Forest Service is indeed one of those windows.
Thanks for your help. I hope you'll write.
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There are a few people over here in Peachtree Corners who are in a flap over the fact that the Peachtree Corners Baptist Church wants to erect a steeple onto the church. In my view, we have always supported churches in this area and we will continue to do so. Unless one's house is in the path of where a steeple might fall if it got blown over, I fail to see the argument against, frankly. I hope the proposal passes.
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The Keystone Society, the largest dollar amount-giving club of the Gwinnett Hospital System Foundation, met at the Atlanta Athletic Club on November 6, 2004 for their yearly black tie gathering. Keystone membership is based upon the donation of $10,000 or more of one's personal money, not corporate money, to the Gwinnett Hospital System Foundation. Established in 1996, Keystone members to date have supplied more than $1.9 million to the hospital's bottom line. That is a pretty impressive figure for only 57 members. If you would like more information about the Keystone Society, please contact the Gwinnett Hospital System Foundation office in Lawrenceville, GA at (678) 442-4634.
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Well, my deer friends got the pansies. We did enjoy them for about a week. Hope all is well with you and thanks for reading.
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