Photo fund raising program
Dear Editor,
For the Past 41 years Jones County Department of Fire Rescue / EMA has sponsored an Annual Photo Fund Raising Program to help purchase equipment for our Fire Department and EMA. In the next few weeks representatives will be visiting our neighborhoods going from door to door asking to support our Annual Program. All of the representatives are bonded, licensed, and registered through the Office of Georgia Secretary of State. The representatives are also required to render an extensive back ground check and submit a personal photo I.D., including make, year, color, and license plate number of each vehicle that the representatives will be driving. Each representative going from door to door will have to surrender all of the said information to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office prior to entering our neighborhoods. This fund raiser has been extremely helpful for many years by purchasing rescue tools, extrication equipment, personal protective equipment, training equipment, etc. For every donation submitted a 10 x 13 family portrait will be given free of charge as a way of saying thank you. All donations are tax deductible. On behalf of the Jones County Department of Fire Rescue / EMA, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your past, current, and future support. Please call the Jones County EMA Office at 478-986-6672 for any information needed.
Sincerely, Don Graham Jones Co. Fire Chief / EMA Director
Affordable Connectivity
Program available
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affordable Connectivity Program available
Dear Editor,
The Jones County School System is participating in a new initiative to close the digital divide in Jones County. The new initiative aims to build awareness about the $14 billion Affordable Connectivity Program, a longterm federal benefit that will help to lower the cost of broadband service and help low-income families to afford home internet service.
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a federal benefit that aims to connect these individuals by providing eligible households with a discount of $30/month toward their home Internet bill or $75/ month for households on Tribal lands. In addition, the benefit provides a one-time $100 discount toward a connected device through a participating provider. At this time, only 26% of eligible households have applied for the benefit due to a lack of awareness, lack of trust in the program, or inability to enroll due to application barriers In discussing the benefits of technology in homes and the ACP, Mr. Charles Lundy, Superintendent of Schools replied, “In Jones County we believe in the importance and influence of connectivity. We believe that access to high-speed internet connectivity can be a foundational corner stone to an improved quality of life for the digital age that we live in and for the digital age of the future.”
A key component of the plan will be the creation of a unique public-private partnership that will work to close the broadband affordability gap. A recent report from the national nonprofit, Education Superhighway, highlighted that approximately 28 million of the 123 million households in the United States do not have high-speed broadband. 18 million of these households, home to 47 million people, are offline because they cannot afford an available internet connection.
This broadband affordability gap is concentrated in Jones County’s underserved communities and disproportionately impacts people of color. Previous efforts to provide the resources households need to connect have fallen short. The new initiative will focus on ensuring residents are aware they might be eligible for the benefit and engaging trusted community partners to support outreach.
A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:
• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) - letters will be sent home the last day of school to eligible students;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program; or
• Participates in one of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard), Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
To get started, households can visit GetACP.org, Education Super Highway’s pre-enrollment tool to see if they qualify, what documents they will need at the time of application, and to see a list of “free with ACP” home internet plans.
Sincerely, Leslie L. Poythress, Executive Director Jones County School System
