On Monday, December 17,  members of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville heard from two speakers, Joe Neely of the Georgia National Guard and Sandra Cathy of Rainbow Village.

Guardsman Neely presented a video of the 48th brigade’s training exercises at Ft. Ripley, Minnesota, and then talked about the mission and history of the National Guard.  He specifically addressed the role of the Guard in serving both state and federal governments and complementing the active duty Army when help is needed anywhere in the world. His unit has served in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa.  He described the organization of the Georgia Guard.  There are 11,100 Army soldiers, 2,800 airmen, and 637 Georgia State Defense volunteers in the Georgia Guard.  He asserted, “The Guard always responds with speed, strength and efficiency helping to defend American freedom and ideals.”

Sandra Cathy then brought the group up-to-date on activities at Rainbow Village.  First, she thanked Rotarians for the continuing support through grant monies which have helped them secure needed computers.  She described construction plans for a Community Center with day care capacity in the future and emphasized the strict requirements that homeless families have to meet to qualify for Rainbow Village assistance.  Participants have to attend classes (life skills and character building classes), and after-school tutoring is available for children.  Rainbow Village strives to help participants build a successful future by providing help from financial planners and social workers.