Town Talk

“Man’s main task is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.” —Erich Fromm

HEARD ON THE TOWN

THANKS TO kind folks at Salvation Army of Chattanooga, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky residents affected by recent serious weather received a helping hand.

“The Salvation Army was very busy serving victims,” said Juanita Oliver, secretary of the Women’s Auxiliary of The Salvation Army, a group of women organized to support the organization’s programs.

They, along with many volunteers in the Chattanooga area, donated time to collect water and nonperishable food during the recent relief effort, Ms. Oliver said.

“Kimberly Kyriakidis George, director of marketing and development of The Salvation Army, said people in the Chattanooga community and throughout the Southeast donated hundreds of hours to help with the relief effort,” Ms. Oliver said. “Emergency Mobile Kitchen Units and disaster teams fed and provided emotional and spiritual care across the Southeast.”

Hamilton Place and Citadel Broadcasting sponsored an allday drive to collect water and nonperishable food to send to the storm struck areas, Ms. Oliver said.

Collection points also were at Wal-Mart locations at Gunbarrel Road and Soddy-Daisy. Announcements were made by WRCB-TV3, Sunny 92.3, KZ106, Talk Radio and The Duke radio station. With only a day’s notice, students at East Brainerd Elementary and Belvoir Christian Academy outdid themselves by bringing canned goods and bottled water for The Salvation Army to give to the tornado victims of West Tennessee.

US Express Enterprises donated transportation to deliver to Alabama pallets of water and nonperishable food, Ms. Oliver said.

“Salvation Army volunteers also worked cooperatively with United Way and the American Red Cross in a jointagency effort that provided meals for the volunteer staff at the disaster service center, as well as to residents coming in for services,” she said. “The Salvation Army continues to meet with United Way and the American Red Cross to discuss long-term recovery issues presented by this disaster in the Southeast.” TOASTS

HAMILTON COUNTY

commissioners honored local Tennessee Saves partners for their financial literacy efforts, said June Puett, University of Tennessee Extension and local Tennessee Saves coordinator.

Kim Hamner of SunTrust Bank, George Vieth from ING Financial, Tammy Zumbrun from Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and Kay Mount from Dupont Community Credit Union were recognized for work with the Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Committee.

“These and other community volunteers donated more than 900 hours with the ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ program that reached 2,000 Hamilton County 11th-graders,” Ms. Puett said. “The volunteers co-taught financial responsibility, including the advantages of educational attainment, importance of saving money, dangers of credit misuse and advantages and risks of investing. The students were challenged to set a savings goal by becoming a Tennessee Saver and were asked about their ability to save money in a follow-up survey.”

Ninety-four percent of the high school juniors said they learned to make appropriate financial decisions, and 95 percent said they will use credit wisely, Ms. Puett said.

Joseph Kotsis of the Internal Revenue Service was honored for his work with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

“The VITA program trained 30 volunteers to provide free tax preparation for more than 2,100 moderate- and lowincome families in 2007,” she said. “This program generated $2.4 million in tax refunds and saved families $320,400 in tax preparation fees.”

The community is working together to help families become financially stable, Ms. Puett said.

“Area residents with incomes up to $40,000 can take advantage of the free tax preparation service by calling 311 for a list of tax preparation sites,” she said. “When you file your tax return, don’t forget to use Form 888 to direct-deposit any or all of your refund in as many as three savings and/or retirement accounts.”