With slideshow

PAYNE – The Wayne Trace National Honor Society hosted a 5K run fundraiser on Saturday, April 6 at the Payne Elementary School, which raised $10,000. The event was held to help Brian and Sarah (Deatrick) Franz with medical expenses for their son, Maddox.

Maddox Franz, born in November, 2012, was born with a kidney defect and is currently on home dialysis. He will remain on dialysis until he weighs enough to receive a kidney transplant. Monies raised will help offset the cost of the transplant.

Staci Wenninger, a Wayne Trace senior, chaired the event which the National Honor Society was proud to have 450 applicants to support the “Glow in the Dark Run.”

The runners and walkers wove all through the town of Payne sporting glow sticks, glow necklaces, neon clothing, and neon painted faces.

The first place finish for the male group was Kevin Heckman with a time of 16:53 with Gina Ryan garnering first place for the female group with a time of 21:40. First place for the 12 and under group was Levi Manz with a time of 26:51.

Brian and Sarah Franz said, “We were ecstatic with the results of the 5K. The Wayne Trace NHS did an outstanding job organizing the event and we are grateful for the generosity of the community. Thank you to everyone who was involved.”

Look for this race again next year around this time to help another community member.

Please click below to view slideshow

By BILL SHERRY • Correspondent

OAKWOOD – Oakwood Village Council met Monday, April 8. Among the agenda items were junk complaints, upcoming events and clean-up day.

By JOE SHOUSE • Correspondent

PAYNE – The Payne Village Council met on Monday and discussed construction of the new bank, a cost hike for EMA and access to the brush pile.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that applications are being accepted from qualified non-profit and public organizations (intermediaries) to provide loans to support rural businesses and community development groups. Funding, which is intended to spark business expansion and create jobs, will be made available through USDA’s Intermediary Relending Program (IRP). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. Today's announcement is one part of the Department's efforts to strengthen the rural economy.

“This program is a part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing effort to leverage private investments with public funds to create jobs and expand economic opportunity for rural entrepreneurs,” Vilsack said. “Intermediaries serve as a critical component to boosting local economies.”

The Intermediary Relending Program is USDA Rural Development's primary program for capitalizing revolving loan funds.  USDA lends money to economic development intermediaries (nonprofits and public bodies) who in turn re-lend the funds as commercial loans to rural businesses (ultimate recipients) that might not otherwise be able to obtain such financing.  The repayment of the ultimate recipients’ loans allows the intermediary to continue to make more loans to new recipients, supporting sustainable economic development. Since President Obama took office, the program has created or saved an estimated 20,000 jobs.

For example, last year a $500,000 IRP loan was awarded to the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries (ADAI) to establish a revolving loan fund providing low-interest loans to ultimate recipients— businesses and communities—for energy efficient and energy saving projects. ADAI needed an affordable financing program to assist rural businesses and communities with alternative fuel production, delivery and energy savings investments. The first low-interest loan from ADAI assisted with equipment purchases for a new, small rural Alabama business. The business opening created seven jobs.

Funds are used to assist with financing business and economic development activity to create or retain jobs in disadvantaged and remote communities. Intermediaries are encouraged to work with state and regional representatives and in partnership with other public and private organizations that can provide complimentary resources.

For more information about the Intermediary Relending Program, and to learn about application deadlines, visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_irp.html. For information on how to apply, see page 20883 of the April 8, 2013 Federal Register (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-04-08/html/2013-08186.htm). Applications and forms may be obtained from any Rural Development State Office.

How can you stay informed of hazardous weather? The Paulding County Emergency Management Agency can issue alerts thru NIXLE. EMA can send notices to your phone and/or email of severe weather and other events such as emergency road closing, missing persons, and similar situations. Just go to NIXLE.com and register your device(s).

PAULDING – United Way of Paulding County and the FamilyWize Community Service Partnership have teamed up to make prescriptions more affordable for those without insurance, or even those who have insurance that doesn’t cover their medicine.

FamilyWize cards have provided needed relief with great success, saving 590 people in our community more than $73,772 on the cost of their medicine. However, there are still many more people whose health is endangered because their prescriptions are too expensive and they are not getting the medicines they need.

Surveys in the last two years by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports independent research on health care issues, notes particular difficulties for people who lost insurance when they became uninsured:

• 57% who had health benefits through their jobs and then lost their jobs became uninsured.

• 52% of uninsured adults with a chronic condition skipped doses or did not fill a prescription for their condition because of the cost.

Even people with insurance through their employer may find that cost keeps them from taking medicine as prescribed, particularly those with high deductible plans. According to an Employee Benefits Research Institute study;

• 31% of people who had a deductible of at least $1,000 skipped a dose or didn’t fill a prescription because of cost.

“In 2013, we’d like to see every person in our community who is unemployed, uninsured, has to buy medicine not covered by their health plan or government program, or is unable to get the medicine they need for any reason, get a FamilyWize card from our United Way,” said Sonya Herber, executive director of the United Way of Paulding County. “We also encourage them to see what other services we can refer them to – like food banks and pantries, utility and housing assistance, and more. We know these are still hard times for many people and we’re here to help.”

United Way of Paulding County is one of 1,000 local United Ways that have joined the FamilyWize Community Service Partnership over the last seven years. FamilyWize was recently named a Preferred Partner by United Way Worldwide to provide opportunities for increased awareness and collaborations nationwide.

“Our partnership with United Way Worldwide and almost 1,000 local United Ways nationwide gives us a national platform to help people in every community across the country,” said Dan Barnes, FamilyWize CEO and Co-founder.

Barnes added that FamilyWize has the capacity to help many more people and will be working hard to do so, but the impact nationwide already is impressive: 5.2 million people helped, 5,000 additional people helped each day, $470 million saved on the cost of medications.

“Locally or nationwide, what’s most important is that most of the time we save people about $20 per prescription when they use this card,” added Herber. “That’s money in their pocket when hey need it most to pay bills and other necessities.”

Average savings are almost 40% and can be as high as 75%. FamilyWize cards can be used at most pharmacies including all chain pharmacies and groceries nationwide.

Contact United Way of Paulding County at 419-399-8240 for information on how to get a card, visit www.familywize.org to download a card or text “family” to 700700 to get a text version of the card.