ATLANTA (May 5, 2016) – Spalding County is a recipient of the 2015-2016 Georgia County Excellence Award for its Senior Citizen Nutrition Program. Spalding County was one of five winners of the Georgia County Excellence Awards. All recipients were honored at ACCG’s 2016 Annual Conference in Savannah (Chatham County), Georgia April 29 through May 2.
The County Excellence Awards are hosted jointly by ACCG and Georgia Trend Magazine. This year, the theme for the program was community health, and counties submitted applications for a variety of projects. These included employee wellness programs, accountability courts to address mental illness, programs to support the senior community, and other collaborative efforts to improve the health of the county as a whole.
“We are very proud of all five recipients of the County Excellence Awards,” said ACCG Executive Director Ross King. “They have taken the initiative to improve the health of their communities, and we commend them for their efforts.”
Spalding County was recognized for its transformation of the Senior Nutrition Program after the planning commission asked the Board of Commissioners to accept the program as their own.
“The Spalding County Board of Commissioners and the Citizens of our County are all very proud of the staff members who willingly pitched in to do whatever was needed to create this award winning program”, said Rita Johnson, Chairman of the Spalding County Board of Commissioners.
The county’s Senior Nutrition Program houses two main services: a sitdown Congregate Meal Service and its own Meals on Wheels program. All of the meals provided are focused on low-sugar, low-sodium diets, and they are coordinated with the help of a certified nutritionist from Three Rivers Regional Commission.
The success of the county’s takeover of the program was immediately evident. After the Senior Center re-launched in August, average monthly participation in activities and classes increased by about 21 percent. New memberships – both regular and ‘silver sneaker’ memberships – doubled in August, compared to the monthly rate for the rest of the 2015. The Senior Nutrition Program overall served 2,947 members in 2015 and 967 people in the month of January alone.
ACCG is Georgia’s county association and works on behalf of county officials and their communities by providing public policy and legislative advocacy, leadership development, civic and community engagement initiatives, insurance and retirement programs that specialize in local government needs and other cost-saving programs. Formed in 1914 when county officials came together to help fund the state’s first highway department, ACCG today serves as a catalyst for advancing Georgia’s counties. For more information, go to www.accg.org.