Darlington junior Natalie Collins was recently recognized for servant leadership during the Feb. 6 Gordon County Volunteer Banquet, held at Georgia Northwestern Technical College.
"Natalie very creatively addressed the needs of our homeless and transitional residents by providing hundreds of backpacks filled with personal care items," said Roberta Charbonneau, coordinator of Family Connection of Gordon County and chair of The Bridge - An Emergency Housing Program for Gordon County Families. "Natalie's idea was so innovative that is has become the model for a fraternity program at Dalton State College."
According to Charbonneau, in "America's Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness," published in 2010, Georgia ranked 41 out of 50 states. The score reflected each state's overall performance across four domains: extent of child homelessness (adjusted per population size), child well-being, risk for child homelessness, and state policy and planning efforts.
"Gordon County public schools identified 10% of all children attending school in the 2009-10 school year as homeless," Charbonneau said. "This trend has continued in each year since. The number of individuals, couples and elderly without children or with infants and toddlers who are homeless in our county has grown as well."
When Collins first approached Charbonneau me about assisting the youth in her home county, Charbonneau suggested she consider focusing on homeless and at-risk children.
"Natalie came back to me with a proposal to provide backpacks for children, teens and adults that would be packed with personal hygiene items that could be distributed as needed," Charbonneau explained. "Since 2010, Natalie has collected and donated over 250 backpacks and thousands of hygiene items."
Natalie is the daughter of Rozanne and Forrest Collins of Calhoun, Ga.
