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Kudos to Drs. Gallaher and Vetter and their office on volunteering their time to help those less fortunate in our community. In any economy there are many who do without proper dental and medical care and in these increasing difficult times those numbers skyrocket. Those needs are exactly what inspired Dr. Ed Burnette to help start the Green Warren Dental Clinic 12 years ago.
At the behest of Dr. Sam Poole, former director of Good News Clinics, and a generous gift from Mrs. Anne Thomas, Dr Burnette chose a path of service to our less fortunate brothers and sisters in Christ who live here in Hall County. Over the last 12 years he has volunteered one to two days a week and helped grow the clinic from two old chairs and little equipment to a modern four-chair clinic with digital X-rays.
Overwhelmed by the tremendous need, he sent a letter to all the dentists in Hall County; 41 volunteer on a regular basis, and last year gave over 1,400 hours of volunteer service. Some volunteer for one to two days a year, while others like Dr. Bud Nickels, a recent retiree, volunteer two to three days a week.
The Green Warren Dental Clinic is open five days a week and last year served more than 5,000 Hall County residents with over $1 million worth of donated services.
The Green Warren Dental clinic receives no government funds and is funded by the generosity of individuals, businesses, churches and foundations who are also concerned with the tremendous need in our community. The Green Warren Dental Clinic is a part of the Good News Clinics, a Christian ministry which provides free medical, dental, pharmacy, vision and counseling services to Hall County residents who do not have insurance or qualify for government assistance. We are located on Pine Street; our phone number is 770-503-1369; our Web site, www.goodnewsclinics.org.
During these difficult economic times with many people unemployed or without health insurance, it will take many of us working together to ensure that in our community those needing care will have access to care.
While our volunteers usually do not receive front-page accolades for their service, we would love to have you or anyone else in our community volunteer with us any day of the week.
Richard G. Bennett Jr., D.M.D.
board chairman and volunteer dentist, Good News Clinics
What constitutes a true conservative today?
I noticed the ad in the Times about the GOP conservative forum. Could you tell me what a person has to believe to be a conservative?
Can you be a conservative without being religious?
Do you have to be a churchgoing Christian fundamentalist to be a conservative?
Do you have to be against birth control and first trimester abortions to be a conservative?
Do you have to support the military complex to be a conservative?
Do you have to support cooperative America to be a conservative?
Do you have to be against labor unions to be a conservative?
Do you have to support all laws that are on the books to be a conservative?
Do you have to support free enterprise to be a conservative?
Do you have to be educated and rich to be a conservative?
I'll be looking for all of you spin doctors to give all of the wrong answers.
Jimmy David Haynie
Gainesville