George Fisher will continue to serve as president of the Paris ISD Board of Trustees while Jenny Wilson will continue on as vice president after the boardâs reorganization Monday. Becki Norment will continue in her role as board secretary.
The reorganization was required after Wilson, Place 6 trustee, and Fisher, Place 1 trustee, took their oaths of office. Without any challengers in the May election, both trustees retained their seats for another term. Their terms now expire in May 2024.
Prior to reorganization, the board accepted the resignation of Place 4 trustee Mihir âMarkâ Pankaj, who was elected to the board in 2020, as he successfully sought election to Paris City Council. His resignation also triggered a need to fill his spot on the Distinguished Graduate Awards Selection Committee. Norment already serves on the committee, and she will be joined by Place 7 Trustee Bert Strom.
On the annual East Texas Giving Day event, donors gifted more than $2.7 million to area nonprofits, with Lamar County seeing part of the helping hand.
âI am encouraged and humbled by the way this community serves one another and shows up for one another, and it was very obvious with the way PJC was supported during giving day,â said Baleigh McCoin, Paris Junior College Director of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Affairs. âA big, sincere thank you to everyone who donated.â
Seven Lamar organizations participated and raised $44,918 for local foundations through 156 donations on Tuesday, many with matching funds. The organizations were PJC Memorial Foundation, Northeast Texas Trail Coalition, CitySquare Paris, St. Josephâs Community Foundation, United Way of Lamar County, Tailored Rides Equine Assisted Therapy Inc and the The Wesley Center at PJC.
East Texas Giving Day kicked off at 6 a.m. today with seven participating Lamar County nonprofits hoping to benefit from the generosity of donors from across the region.
East Texas Giving Day, powered by East Texas Communities Foundation, is an 18-hour giving event that takes place virtually at www.EastTexasGivingDay.org . Donors can participate by going online and donating $10 or more from any device that can access the internet including; desktop computers, mobile phones or tablets.
âGiving Day is happening at a critical time for the nonprofit community,â said Holly McFarlin, Public Relations Director of East Texas Communities Foundation. âNonprofits are responding to an increased demand for services meanwhile, donations have slowed due to the postponement of public fundraising events due to the pandemic. Giving Day could be a bridge to help fill some of those funding gaps many nonprofits are experiencing.â
Community gardens are back in Paris thanks to a Health4U grant awarded the Paris-Lamar County Health Department in 2017, the United Way of Lamar County and Paris Regional Medical Center.
Volunteers with Health4U worked Sunday afternoon restoring about a dozen raised beds in the Paris Community Garden, located at the Paris Regional Medical Centerâs campus at 2875 Lewis Lane. Businesses partnering with the program to provide materials include Kelley Plant Farm, Jemasco Inc., Land & Co., DudeWorx, Retired Senior Volunteer Program and Primetime Senior Services.
âThe garden has been neglected over the last year because of Covid,â Dr. Amanda Green said as she and several other volunteers refreshed plots with fresh gardening soil and planted a few flowers and vegetables to encourage people to adopt a garden plot. âThereâs a lot of us partnering together to try to bring something positive and healthy back to people.â
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