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Ella’s Run holds 10th and final annual charity event
Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2017
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‘NOT GOING TO STOP ME’ Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michael Duncan, from left, talks to Lt. Willie Bailey, facilities manager Thomas Mulheron and Cpl. Deon Washington about his recovery at the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta on Friday. Duncan was left paralyzed from the waist down after a Gwinnett County police helicopter crash on Sept. 1. (Staff Photo: Curt Yeomans)
BY CURT YEOMANS
curt.yeomans @gwinnettdailypost.com
A month and a half after a helicopter crash at Briscoe Field left him paralyzed from the waist down, Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michael Duncan considers himself fortunate. Duncan and Officer George McLain attempted to land the helicopter at Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville after pulling
Vol. 48, No. 17
Injured Gwinnett helicopter cop looking beyond his paralysis
out of a search for a wanted suspect because of approaching bad weather. Considering the damage done to the helicopter during the crash, he said the outcome could have been worse. “I’m lucky to be alive,” Duncan told the Daily Post on Friday. “I mean, me being a paraplegic, if that’s the worst of it, then we’re all good.” Duncan received some encouragement from local Masons who visited him at
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the Shepherd Center Friday to donate $3,036 to help him and his family recover. The money was raised by the 10 masonic lodges in Gwinnett, as well as an Eastern Star chapter in Snellville and the Gwinnett County Masonic Association. “We just want to help him,” See DUNCAN, Page 6A
GIVING GOODNESS
GREAT DAYS OF SERVICE
Schools donate to food co-ops BY CAILIN O’BRIEN
cailin.obrien@gwinnettdailypost.com
On Friday, boxes upon boxes of food and personal care items were delivered to the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry courtesy of local schools hoping to give back during the county’s Great Days of Service. “It was wonderful,” said Laura Drake, the Southeast Gwinnett Co-op director. “It’s just a wonderful event every year.” The Southeast Gwinnett Co-op was one of nine co-ops that received donations from about 100 Gwinnett County schools on Friday. It was unclear how many items were donated as of Friday evening — officials were still counting. But Gwinnett Coalition Associate Director Regina Miller said she estimated the schools donated anywhere between 60,000 and 65,000 items. See SCHOOLS, Page 6A Lisa Potts helps paint the railing at the loading dock during Friday’s Great Days of Service volunteer event at Creative Enterprises in Lawrenceville. (Photo: Karl L. Moore)
Campus for disabled adults gets makeover BY CAILIN O’BRIEN
Tracy Hawkins helps cut wood for the planters during Friday’s Great Days of Service volunteer event at Creative Enterprises in Lawrenceville.
cailin.obrien@gwinnettdailypost.com
Sherry Patton watched in awe as 43 volunteers sawed, planted and painted all over Creative Enterprises’ campus Friday morning. Patton works as the director of program services and grants at Creative Enterprises, a Lawrenceville nonprofit that helps maximize the potential of disabled adults who may have trouble finding employment. On Friday, the organization received a campus makeover courtesy of Great Days of Service. “It’s kind of like the fairy godmother came in and said,
‘Here’s your beautiful new campus,’” she said. Fairy godmothers visited hundreds of nonprofits and homes all over the county on Friday and Saturday as part of
the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services’ 18th annual Great Days of Service event. Thousands of volunteers completed about 500 service
projects at hundreds of sites across the county. Volunteers from Wells Fargo renovated a home for disabled adults on Friday while people from WEG Electric Corp. created a therapy garden at Glancy Rehabilitation Center. On Saturday, volunteers from the Gwinnett Rotary Club repaired playground equipment for Gwinnett Tech’s Hudgens Early Childhood Education Center. Those are just some See PRIMERICA, Page 6A
Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputies help bring donated food from local school to the Southeast Gwinnett County Co-op and Ministry on Friday. (Photo: Shannon Volkodav)
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