The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns stemming from it prompted a response from community, civic, business and governmental organizations like never before in 2020.
Even those groups in Cobb County whose work involves helping those most in need were stretched far beyond what they’re accustomed to doing.
MUST Ministries, a Marietta-based non-profit that serves the homeless and others in need in several metro Atlanta counties, was challenged in unprecedented ways.
Federal CARES Act funding received by Cobb County government was distributed to a number of non-profit and community organizations for broad-based needs, including food, rental assistance, and to help them stay operational.
Among those efforts was a joint response by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the Cobb Community Foundation, which launched Operation Meal Plan.
CCF later estimated that county non-profits delivered 8.3 million pounds of food since the pandemic began in March, and those needs will continue for months to come.
At the end of the year, CCF named Howard Koepka of the Noonday Association of Churches as the recipient of its James L. Rhoden Jr. Visionary Philanthropist Award, after the East Cobb resident who founded CCF and has long been involved in non-profit community service in the county.
Other efforts to aid those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis include people took it upon themselves to lend a helping hand. Among them is Kirsten Glaser, a new East Cobb resident who’s been serving up “lasagna love” to health care workers, first responders, teacher and others.
More Top East Cobb 2020 stories
- Cleaning up from Hurricane Zeta
- Vandals scrawl swastika, MAGA graffiti in neighborhoods
- Petitions started to change Wheeler, Walton school names
- Tokyo Valentino sex shop opens on Johnson Ferry Road
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