A Chair-ity Event

On Monday night community leaders, businesses and many, many caring people came together to support The Children's Village at Christian City. I'm not sure how many readers know about all the great things that the wonderful folks at Christian City do for ALL ages.

As I talk to people in the community it's interesting to hear their thoughts on Christian City. While the vast majority understand the scope of their services, others only know part of the picture. Some think they take care of retirees or that it's a community of retirees. Some think it's a home for children. Some just think it's a community of Christians. Others think about Southwest Christian Hospice.

Well, Christian City is a place for retirees to live, it's a nursing home, it's a place for on-the-go seniors and it provides a nurturing home for children.

Christian City is open to those of all faiths. Here's a bit from their website that explains their focus on faith much better than I could: "While expressly Christian in orientation, Christian City does not discriminate in any way with regard to who can benefit from services and ministries provided. We minister to the physical as well as the spiritual needs of people as an expression of the Love of God to them. Our motto is “Loving People…Loving People.” It is our hope that hurting people will experience the love of God through us and be drawn closer to Him. It is also our hope that everyone served by Christian City enjoys an enriched and fulfilling life."

While they do have hospice services, they are separate from Southwest Christian Hospice (or, to note the correct name, Southwest Christian Care). Southwest is located in the middle of the Christian City campus, but the two are different entities, each doing wonderful things for many in their own way.

Christian City is also working on a new venture which is something I will be supporting completely. Once they complete the NEW Children's Village, they will be remodeling the old children's homes to provide a place for older special needs adults. I'll share more information about that in a later write-up. Right now I want to focus on the event we held Monday night.

Belinda and Craig Fitch, owners of the Hollingsworth House in Fayetteville, and Metro Catering, put on a fund-raiser to beat all fund-raisers. For the second year they opened their antebellum home to raise money to build The Children's Village. The pair worked tirelessly to help put the event together, donating hours and hours of time AND donating all the food and services for the event. These are truly two wonderful people who, to quote a friend, put feet with their prayers.

Numerous volunteers joined the effort to make the fund raiser a huge success.

The fun twist that made the event unique was the auction. Artists from across the Atlanta area donated chairs and stools they painted for the event. Patsy Gullet, Vicki Turner, Miles Davis, Debbie Beauregard, Greg Blair, Donna Rosser, Jim Whitlock, Cress Chance, Fiona Arlene Dennis and others found chairs and painted them specifically for this event.

The chairs were a hit!

In case you're wondering why I'm rhapsodizing about this event... Aside from the fact that it's a great event for a great cause, I'm on the volunteer committee and we're already starting to work on NEXT year's event. This year we had tremendous support from the artistic community, the business community and many community leaders. We raised a lot of money, but you know that when you're dealing with children, there's never enough! Next year, we want to raise the bar and do more for the children at Christian City.

I'd like to tell you more, but this has probably already taxed your reading limits. Please visit http://www.christiancity.org/ and find out more about Christian City. I'd also like to ask you to visit http://www.chair-ity-event.org/ to find out more about the chairs, the artists and our great sponsors. And, last but not least, I'd like to ask you to consider sponsoring a child at Christian City or making a donation of some sort to help the kids. Visit http://www.christiancity.org/ to find out how to help.

Hear are some links from the Christian City website:

Children
Our people reflect Christ's love by providing hope, restoring trust, mending hearts and bringing happiness to each child entrusted to our care.
Sponsor a Child
Atlanta Foster Care
The Children's Village
Transitional Living Program

Seniors
Our passion to radiate the love of Christ results in extraordinary service to Seniors on the entire continuum of care, because it's not our job - it's our mission!
Atlanta Assisted Living
Atlanta Independent Living
Atlanta Nursing Home
Atlanta HUD Housing
Other Senior Services

Photos:
1. Detail from Patsy Gullet's chair which depicted scenes from Fayette County
2. Debbie Beauregard donated a chair and two stools with whimsical animals and florals
3. Miles Davis painted a fabulous chair with an owl on the seat and a large moon on the back
4. Tyrone artist Jim Whitlock painted a bar and two stools with three different aircraft.

- Janet McGregor Dunn