Salvation Army battles addiction

“We give kids their parents back.” So says the running headline on the Salvation Army’s Combat-Addiction webpage. Through its addiction recovery program, the Salvation Army helps over 150,000 people per year suffering with drug addiction, helping make families whole again. They provide free counseling, housing, employment assistance, and support for individuals suffering from long-term alcohol …

Westside graduate prepares to teach in Africa

What started as a summer trip to study abroad in Ghana has turned into a life mission for one Macon native. In the summer of 2014, Kokayi Bakari Postell traveled to Ghana, a country of approximately twenty-seven million people on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The coastal country boasts sandy beaches, mountain waterfalls, …

Middle Georgia doula helps expectant, new mothers

Britney Asbell is a birth doula. “Doula” is a word of Greek origin, meaning a servant woman. But a birth doula is more than a mere servant. The modern doula is an American creation, born of the changes in childbirth practices that proliferated during the 1960s and 1970s, as mothers became conscious, active participants in …

Radio host Bobby Clark retiring after 40 years in the industry

Guest post by Clarence Thomas, Jr. On December 1, 2017, an iconic voice in local radio will step away from his morning gospel show microphone and into ministry full time. That voice is WNEX-FM 100.5 The Light’s Bobby Clark, a staple in Middle Georgia listeners’ daytime radio diet. What began in 1977 as a favor …

Streetline teaches local kids more than music

(Macon) - “It all began with 3 small drums and a dream,” says Charlene Waller, CEO of Streetline, Inc. Macon-Bibb County high school graduate Cedavean Waller was still a Central High School student in 2009. He was up late, enjoying a midsummer night of nostalgia. Waller spent the night reminiscing about his high school friends, …

Love Always, Becca Jean: A Local Non-Profit, Dedicated to Fighting Young Adult Cancer

Guest post by Katrina Martin “Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not in imagination.” — C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed Through my eyes, my family are extraordinary people working through enormous, life-altering events. We struggle each day to defeat the grief that is …

Vineville Baptist Morning School seeks former students, families

Guest article by T.S. Boyd Vineville Baptist Morning School donated $574 worth of quarters to Jay’s Hope Foundation on Friday, October 6, 2017, in honor of two of our past students, University of Georgia football quarterback Jake Fromm and Jay Gaskin, whose ultimate victory over cancer inspired the creation of Jay’s Hope Foundation, which provides …

When should your child see an orthodontist?

Guest post by Dr. Ched Smaha Did you know that the American Association of Orthodontics recommends that children see an orthodontist by the time they are 7 years old? Yes, that means that your child should have an orthodontic exam while they still have some of their baby teeth. While children should also have routine …

Macon Sewing Guild receives recognition for growth

Guest post by Mary Oppy The Macon Area Chapter of the American Sewing Guild was recognized at the American Sewing Guild National Sewing Conference for achieving the largest percentage gain in membership in 2017. The Chapter Membership Growth Award was given at the ASG National Sewing Conference held in Orlando. Florida from July 27-30. The …

Dauset Trails is a family favorite and hidden gem

Dauset Trails Nature Center has been called “Middle Georgia’s hidden jewel,” and for good reason. Generations of school children have loved Dauset Trails because of its menagerie. Indeed, nowhere else in Middle Georgia can children engage so immediately with native wild animals, including a bear, a cougar, a bald eagle, river otters, owls, birds of …

A good holiday visit requires parental communication

Halloween has come and gone, and in a few short weeks, Thanksgiving will be here, with Christmas and winter holidays scooting right on in behind it. Many children will be shuttled back and forth between homes for the holiday season, visiting with their non-custodial parents (the parent that they don’t live with most of the …

I Am King Foundation reaches youth, offers purpose

It is easy to find problems in a community, especially when that community is Macon. Many people talk about the challenges we face. Yet with as many challenges as Macon faces, there are also many people in our community who are investing their money, time, and emotions into improving our community. Among the dedicated volunteers …