The Atlanta Commissioned Officers Association (ACOA) Exhibits Superior Community Service
Contributed by LCDR Anna Satcher Johnson and LCDR Eddie Weiss

In 2008, over 150 Atlanta-area USPHS Commissioned Corps officers gave back to the community through participation in numerous Atlanta Commissioned Officers Association (ACOA) sponsored community service activities. Some popular events included serving at the United Service Organization (USO), roadside clean-up, and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. In addition, officers participated in several new events.

ACOA has engaged regularly in community service for years, and 2008 was no exception. Every third Saturday ACOA coordinates volunteers to serve at the Jean R. Amos USO Center at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest airport. During 2008, Atlanta-area officers assisted the USO in providing snacks and service to thousands of the men and women of the uniformed services. True dedication was shown on the third weekend in December when USPHS officers provided 24-hour service to military personnel who were returning home for the holidays. USPHS officers took great pride in sharing camaraderie and providing community service to those who serve in the uniformed service.

The quarterly roadside cleanup is another ACOA-sponsored community service that is supported by many volunteers. This service is conducted as part of the Georgia Adopt-a-Highway program. Officers and their family and friends helped keep a 1-mile stretch of roadway clean. For its efforts, ACOA received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Department of Transportation.

In addition, for the third consecutive year, ACOA organized a build with the Atlanta affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. Officers who volunteered helped to provide the opportunity of homeownership to a low-income family in need.

In the past year, ACOA community service activities were expanded to include several new projects. First, ACOA organized a volunteer event at the Café’ 458 weekend brunch. Café 458 offers a full scale brunch to Atlanta residents and visitors every Sunday. All proceeds from the Sunday brunch benefit the Samaritan House of Atlanta, which is an organization devoted to transforming lives by helping homeless men and women gain self-sufficiency through personalized employment readiness and life-stabilization programs. Officers had the opportunity to volunteer as kitchen help, servers, hosts, food runners, and dishwashers. This activity was organized twice in the past year and both times officers helped to make the Café 458 weekend brunch a success.

ACOA also organized a community service activity with Project Open Hand, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization that provides healthy meals, dietary counseling, and nutrition education to its clients. At this community service event, officers delivered meals to homebound seniors and other Atlanta residents with chronic, critical, or terminal illnesses.

In addition, local officers worked alongside low-income neighborhood residents to create a community garden. The garden, supported by The Atlanta Food Bank, will serve to supply food for local residents and beautify their neighborhood.

Finally, Atlanta COA coordinated a community service event at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. At this activity officers helped bring a summer camp experience to patients and families through fun activities such as sports and arts and crafts.

In the past year, all the community service volunteer requests have received an overwhelming response. This demonstrates the strong service-oriented nature of the ACOA members. ACOA appreciates the efforts of officers and their families who have helped make these events a success and encourages all officers to continue their support of ACOA’s commitment to community service. During 2009, Atlanta COA plans to develop new projects to serve senior citizens and plans to coordinate a volunteer activity with the Junior Officer Advisory Group.

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Atlanta Branch Recognized for Roadside Cleanup
Contributed by CDR (Ret) Lester Sharpton 

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) recognized the Atlanta Commissioned Officers Association (ACOA) with a Certificate of Appreciation for its long-time partnership in keeping Atlanta’s Ponce de Leon Avenue clean of litter. It is ACOA’s first recognition from GDOT. On behalf of GDOT, CDR (Ret) Lester Sharpton presented the award to LCDR Anna Satcher-Johnson (ACOA Community Service Co-Chair) during the ACOA’s December general membership meeting held at Chamblee campus, GA.

The roadside cleanup is ACOA’s longest continuing community service project (beginning in the 1990s). Over the years, the project has involved hundreds of volunteer active duty and retired commissioned officers, co-workers and family members contributing thousands of man-hours, almost always on weekends.

ACOA cleans both sides of a one-mile stretch of multi-lane Ponce de Leon Avenue every three months. This roadway is the busiest entry point to Atlanta. It includes four US Highways (23, 29, 78 & 278) and two-state roads (8 & 10). It lies in the City of Atlanta, DeKalb County and passes along four of Atlanta’s oldest parks (Springdale, Virginia, Oak Grove and Shadyside Parks). The setting was used in the 1989 motion picture, “Driving Miss Daisy”, starring Morgan Freeman.

GDOT maintains signs near Briarcliff and Clifton Road intersections, which provide high profile recognition for the ACOA that is seen by thousands of motorist, cyclist and pedestrians every day.

[Editor's note: Roadside cleanups have been temporarily suspended but will resume at a later date. See the President's Column below.]
 

USPHS Officers “Rescue” USO Shift 
Contributed by CDR Edecia Richards

Upon my arrival to the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport USO the morning of February 21, 2009, I observed that we did not have any sandwiches or supplies to make sandwiches. In addition, there were fewer than a dozen bottles of water. Based on this assessment, I made a couple of phone calls to solicit food donations from CAPT Holt and CDR Quintyne, who were both scheduled for the afternoon shift. After placing that phone call, I called the other three officers assigned with me on morning shift together, explained our dire situation and solicited their financial assistance to purchase the necessary food items. LCDR Forbes was tasked with picking up the food items. In the interim, I fried the five packs of bacon and offered bacon sandwiches to the troops. Upon LCDR Forbes arrival with the food items to prepare sandwiches, CDR Mazzerillo and I could not prepare the sandwiches fast enough for the troops. We were all truly happy to serve our troops. Ms. Austin was so moved by our display of comrade and commitment to serve that she presented us with an award on the spot. Lastly, the troops verbalized their appreciation for our services and we said likewise. The Esprit de Corps displayed by the officers assigned that weekend (1st shift and CAPT Holt, CDR Quintyne, and CDR John Iskander ) was very impressive.

Plans are now in place to coordinate with USO to ensure sufficient food is on hand when our officers arrive to volunteer (purchasing food with one’s own money is above and beyond any expectations, making our volunteers’ efforts all the more extraordinary). We still have openings for officers to volunteer to serve at the USO on the following dates, May 16 and June 20. This is an excellent way to give back to those who give so much for our great country!
 

D. Ross Spears, CDR, USPHS

There’s a maxim that goes “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” Mindful of that bit of common wisdom, the ACOA Executive Committee (EC) is making plans for the immediate as well as the long term future of the Branch. The announcements section of this month’s The Signal show planned events where officers can demonstrate officership through service to the community. ACOA’s community service activities in the coming months include support for Café 458, MedShare International, and the monthly USO support. The Community Service Committee is developing ideas for still more projects. The goal is to ensure that ACOA provides the maximum number of opportunities for area officers to work together as an active, concerned Branch.