Fannin County Family Connection celebrated the grand opening and ribbon cutting of their new location Tuesday, November 19.
“It’s a dream come true,” Executive Director Sherry Morris said. “I actually work on my yearly goals in conjunction with the annual year for Family Connection and when I looked at my July 2018 goals one of those things had been a new building, because we knew that we were losing our lease at the old one. To have it come to fruition this quickly has been just amazing.
“To see how much the community has come together, how many donors that we’ve had, how many people who have shown up on Fridays and Saturdays to work, it’s been really an amazing thing to watch happen.”
The new location is located at 501 Industrial Park in Blue Ridge and the Family Connection Executive Board members are excited to see what lies ahead for the organization in the new facility.
Executive Board Chair Cathy Cox-Brakefield expressed the board’s appreciation for Morris, Administrative Assistant Amanda Hyde and Pantry Manager Greg Gelp stating, “This place would not be where it is today, by any stretch of the imagination, without them.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, The Kiwanis Club of Blue Ridge presented a check for $5,000 to Family Connection.
“Those (Kiwanis) members are out in the community serving all the time and all of the money that they collect through the Kiwanis Club actually goes back directly to Fannin County and to the children here in Fannin County,” Morris said. “I am so honored to be a part of the group. Thank you.”
Morris recognized the following people and organizations for their help in completing the renovation of the new facility: Feed Fannin, the George Link Jr. Charitable Trust, Bill Echelberger with Echelberger Construction and the Marine Corps League Detachment #1438. Two separate donors wished to remain anonymous.
“Some folks have really gone the extra mile to make this place what it is,” Cox-Brakefield said. “We are thankful to all of those people. We are thankful to our anonymous donors who actually made the building possible and then we had another anonymous donor who got us started on renovation. Those folks don’t want any credit, but we know who they are and God knows who they are. We’re very grateful to them.”
According to Morris, the organization is always looking for volunteers.
“We’d love to have volunteers,” she said. “We appreciate all of our donors, whether that’s donating food, or money or time. We could not serve the community without the community serving us.”
More information can be found at www.fannin.gafcp.org or by calling 706-632-6063.