Macon Violence Prevention partners receive $10,000 worth of donations from Georgia Power
"Everybody wants to feel safe. Everybody wants to know that their children are safe and being able to thrive comes from feeling safe," said Jeremy Grissom, Coordinator for Macon Violence Prevention.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Georgia Power presented a total of $10,000 worth of donations at Macon City Hall Wednesday to five non-profit organizations who are partnered with Macon Violence Prevention.
Girls Dig Deeper received $2,167 for spring break camps, Lead with Literacy received $2,166 for winter break camps, Pace Center for Girls received $2,000 for field trip transportation, Appleton Episcopal Ministries/Free to Read received $1,500 for a field trip to Atlanta for the Georgia Reads Event and Victory Academy received $2,167 for spring break camps.
Representatives spoke before receiving the donations, stressing the importance of helping the young people in the community in an effort to curb violence.
“I think public safety is the number one thing in our community,” said Jeremy Grissom, Coordinator for Macon Violence Prevention. “Everybody wants to feel safe. Everybody wants to know that their children are safe and being able to thrive comes from feeling safe, you can be your best self when you feel safe. So super important in every aspect of life.”
“Our citizens are the eyes of our community,” Grissom continued. “So if you have ideas, if you see something that a program is doing that you think you can help with, you can volunteer, provide ideas, and just continue to tell us the good things that are happening in Macon-Bibb around the community.”
Patrick Harris, Region Executive for Georgia Power, says they are always looking for strategic initiatives that align with their initiatives and the communities initiatives.
“We know that the Macon Violence Prevention program vets the various organizations that are around the community that’s actually making an impact,” said Harris. “So we thought investing in them would invest in the organizations that are truly making a difference in the community.”
“So when you have that in place, you’re going to have thriving neighborhoods, thriving environments, places that businesses want to come, places that families want to relocate, we think it’s a good investment in order to make a productive better Macon-Bibb County,” Harris said.
“When we first announced our Macon Violence Prevention program, it’s been almost four years now, I knew that was going to make a difference in our community,” said Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller. “We didn’t know we’re going to start seeing results as quick as we have.”
“We have seen kids grow tremendously in our community, whether through counseling, arts, sports, stem, and so much more,” Miller said. “These are things that you normally don’t think about when you start thinking about preventing crime in your community, but they’re a vital part of doing what we need to do to curb violence in our community.”
“We honor these amazing organizations who are doing just, I mean, hard on the ground work with our youth in making a difference, and I can’t wait to see how they continue to make a lasting impact on the lives of these children,” said Kathryn Dennis, President of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.
