Hundreds of Gwinnett County kids had gifts to unwrap on Christmas morning because of one of the county’s most famous sons.
Rapper Offset, a Gwinnett native who rose to international fame as a member of Migos, held his first-ever toy giveaway at Central Baptist Church in Lawrenceville on Friday. This is the first Christmas since Offset’s cousin and fellow Migos member, Takeoff, was killed in Houston nearly two months ago.
The Toys For Nawf event offered kids a chance to get plenty of gifts, ranging from bikes and remote control cars to dolls and toy dinosaurs.
Kids also got to play games, enjoy hot chocolate and other snacks and play in an inflatable obstacle course.
Offset’s efforts to help families enjoy Christmas did not go unnoticed by local leaders. Lawrenceville and Gwinnett County leaders presented proclamations to Offset, whose birth name is Kiari Cephus.
A proclamation from the city of Atlanta was also presented to him. “(Migos) are our favorite sons,” county commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said. “They put Gwinnett County on the map, and when they talk about the ‘NAWF side,’ they’re talking about the suburbs of Gwinnett County. They’re not talking about Atlanta. They’re talking about Gwinnett.
Several organizations, including Central Baptist Church, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the Lawrenceville Boys and Girls Club, along with local government officials partnered with Offset to stage the event.
On behalf of Georgia’s 3,500 cotton farming families, the Georgia Cotton Commission recently donated 12,000 pairs of socks to various homeless shelters across the state.
Farmers delivered socks to the Albany Rescue Mission, the Friends Ministry in Bainbridge, Lowndes Associated Ministries to People in Valdosta, the Southwest Georgia Housing Opportunities in Columbus, The Sparrow’s Nest in Athens, Cedartown United Fund, the Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia in Macon, the Atlanta Mission, the CSRA Economic Opportunity Authority in Augusta, Fair Haven in Jesup, and the Homeless Authority in Savannah.
The Georgia Cotton Commission is a producer-funded organization located in Perry. The commission began in 1965. Georgia cotton producers pay an assessment enabling the commission to invest in programs of research, promotion, and education on behalf of all cotton producers of Georgia.
Eight boys basketball teams head to Buford City Arena this week for the inaugural Buford Classic.
Half of the field is made up of Gwinnett teams with the host Wolves being joined by Archer, Shiloh and South Gwinnett. Carrollton, Sequoyah, Walnut Grove and West Forsyth also are in the field.
Shiloh opens Wednesday’s first round with a matchup against Sequoyah, followed by Archer (8-2, No. 8 in Class AAAAAAA) against West Forsyth at 4:30 p.m. The two late games Wednesday feature South (8-2) vs. Carrollton (9-1, No. 10 in AAAAAAA) at 6 p.m., and Buford (6-3) against Walnut Grove at 7:30 p.m.
Play continues with four games Thursday — semifinals are 6 and 7:30 p.m. — followed by four more games Friday, highlighted by the 7:30 p.m. championship game.
Gwinnett County officials are planning to seek federal grant funding to find a new way to reduce the amount of biosolids coming out of the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center by turning them into fertilizer.
The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources is applying for a $21.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fertilizer Production Expansion Program. County officials plan to use the grant funds, if they are approved to receive it, to purchase a biosolids dryer for the water resources center, which treats and cleans wastewater before returning it to the county's water source, Lake Lanier.
The center has done work in the past to extract as much waste as possible to be converted into other uses.
The biosolids dryer would be used to convert biosolid waste to fertilizer instead of sending it to landfills.
County officials said, in addition to buying the dryer, they will use the grant funds to develop a marketing plan to sell the fertilizer.
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