Organizers and Volunteers Declare Hands On Thomas County Day a Success

Governor Perdue and Alston Watt take a break with other volunteers at the Bishop Hall Charter School.

The First Annual Hands On Thomas County Day was held on Saturday, November 13, 2005. At 9:00 a.m., approximately 500 volunteers ignored the dreary weather and committed their morning to completing projects at 12 local sites including schools, libraries, museums, Thomas County Habitat for Humanity and Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society. One group installed a flower bed on the Thomasville Community Resource Center’s lawn. Another group painted a collage on the walls of the center’s recreation center.

Various organizations, churches and schools were represented at each site. Even Governor Sonny Perdue traveled to Thomasville to volunteer with the team from Southwest Georgia Technical College to landscape the Bishop Hall Charter School’s grounds.

Hands On Thomas County (HOTC) also provided free childcare for any interested volunteers.
The local YMCA agreed to supervise participants’ children during the day, and Chick-fil-A provided lunch for the youngsters. Even the children were “Hands On” by decorating brown paper bags with Thanksgiving and Christmas motifs. The bags were then delivered to the Thomas County Food Bank to use for food distribution.

Children decorate bags to transport food for the hungry at the YMCA

When the morning was over, these hard-working volunteers had contributed over 2,000 hours of community service throughout Thomas County. At 1:00 p.m. all of the volunteers gathered for a barbecue in the Thomas County Central High School cafeteria. After lunch and entertainment, Governor Perdue and HOTC board chair and Hands On Georgia board member, Alston Watt, spoke to the group of volunteers. Mrs. Watt said that “we need to make this a part of who we are. The challenge now is to go forward with this great energy and continue to volunteer. Be the change. Volunteer.”

Governor Perdue added that, “You can have all the organization, vision and support, but if you don’t have the workers it won’t happen.” The Governor concluded saying that “most of life is just showing up and you all have shown up to make a difference.”

The next Hands On Thomas County Day is scheduled for October 1, 2005. For more information please visit www.handsonthomascounty.org.