Greene County Democrat

Tag: Carol Zippert

  • In 20 years BBCF provided $100 million in grants to Black Belt with Greene County receiving $880,803

    BBCF holds listening sessions in Black Belt counties

    Participants at Greene County Listening Session and L to R: Darlene Robinson, Carol Zippert, Rev. Chris Spencer, Miriam Leftwich and Johnnie Morning.

    The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) conducted a series of county-wide listening sessions across its 12-county service area in Alabama’s Black Belt Region, including Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Wilcox.
    The Greene County listening session, chaired by BBCF staff Rev. Christopher Spencer, was held Tuesday evening, June 24, 2025 at the Greene County Baptist Association facility on Finches Ferry Road in Eutaw. Approximately 40 persons participated, including local groups who are recipients of BBCF grants.
    Greetings were brought by Miriam Leftwich, Greene County Community Associates Coordinator and Co-Coordinator and BBCF Greene County Board Member Darlene Robinson.
    These gatherings were designed to provide a vital platform for residents, community leaders, grassroots organizations, and local stakeholders to come together and share their voices on the pressing issues, opportunities, and needs facing their communities.
    The listening sessions created a welcoming, inclusive space where participants could openly discuss challenges related to education, healthcare access, economic development, infrastructure, cultural preservation and much more.
    In each county the gathering separated into small discussion groups to address the following topics: What are our greatest strengths as a community; What would our ideal community look like if we had no limitations; Based on your answer, what is needed to create your ideal community; What are the most important things we need to focus on in the next 1-2 years to grow our community into the place we would like it to be. The small group responses were listed on charts and shared when the larger group re-assembled.
    Feedback gathered from these sessions will directly inform BBCF’s strategic priorities, investments, grant-making initiatives, and collaborative partnerships moving forward.
    These listening sessions were patterned after the initial community gatherings 20 years ago which were the cornerstones giving birth to BBCF. During that organizing period, a volunteer coordinating committee visited each county to hear from the people what they saw as their community assets. This committee envisioned that the best way for the Alabama Black Belt to capitalize on Taking what we have to make what we need was to determine what we really had. These community sessions led to the formation of BBCF.
    The Black Belt Community Foundation reaffirms its commitment to working alongside the people of the Black Belt — amplifying their voices, honoring their experiences, and investing in the dreams and solutions that emerge from within. Since its incorporation, BBCF has deployed nearly $100 million into the Black Belt through partnerships with more that 200 regional nonprofit organizations throughout the Black Belt.
    From 2005 to 2025, Greene County has received a total of $880,803 in BBCF community and arts grants and in support of other projects relating to healthy food provisions, health care information, storm damage assistance and more.
    Ms. Felecia Lucky, who was a member of the organizing committee for BBCF will leave her position as CEO/President in September to assume a similar leadership role with the F.B. Heron Foundation. Rev. Christopher Spencer, who was engaged in the organizing sessions in Sumter County and worked on the BBCF staff since the early years, has been selected by the BBCF board to serve as CEO/President.
    The session adjourned with the participants enthusiastic with the prospects of new approaches for working together to grow Greene County. Refreshments were shared with all in attendance.

     

  • Part of 20th anniversary celebration Black Belt Community Foundation moves to new office in Selma

    On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the Board, staff, and supporters of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) moved from their previous office  to dedicate their new office at 410 Church Street in Selma, Alabama. The move, ribbon cutting, office tours, and street festival were all part of the foundation’s year-long 20th anniversary celebration.

    The move from the 609 Lauderdale Street office to the new office, which is owned and has been renovated by BBCF was accomplished in a parade of the staff and leadership of the community foundation. They were accompanied by the Selma High School Band and Cheerleaders.

    Felicia Lucky, BBCF President of the foundation, serving 12 counties that cut across the central part of the.” state, welcomed the crowd. They were assembled in a tent in the blocked off street in front of the new office. There were food trucks, a bounce-house and other games in the blocks of Church Street closed for the occasion. Lucky said, “People and communities are the central focus of our foundation and its activities. This new building will help us to accomplish our mission and better serve the community.

    A proclamation was read from Alabama Governor Kay Ivey designating May 1 as Black Belt Community Foundation Day in Alabama.

    Dr. Carol P. Zippert, founding Board chair of the foundation, was invited to make remarks. She said, “I am glad to be here to tell the story of the BBCF. We must always be ready to tell our own story.

    “We, the 16 members of the organizing committee and first board, went through months of discussion and planning in 2003 and 2004 to develop the name, mission, logo, slogan, and plans for our own foundation. We went to visit each of the 12 counties, asking people about their assets and strengths, not their problems and deficiencies. We wanted to start our community foundation to build philanthropy from the grassroots, recognizing our community needs and ways the community could work together to fulfill those needs. After twenty years of work, we have begun to realize the promise and work of our community foundation.”

    Former State Senator Hank Sanders, a Selma attorney, who was part of the formation of the foundation said that work on developing a foundation had begun for five years before the formal incorporation of BBCF. The idea for a community foundation came out of discussions of a “Selma Collaborative” which was an alliance of social justice non-profits in Selma and surrounding counties.

    “Carol Zippert, who was serving on the Board of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, had visited with community foundations across the country, brought the idea to the Selma Collaborative, as a way to raise and assemble funding for community groups. Then we were contacted by Dr. David Wilson of Auburn and Julian Smith of the Alabama Power Company, who were also looking into the possibility of a community foundation to serve the Alabama Black Belt counties,” said Sanders.

    “Our group in Selma, already had incorporated the BBCF Inc. to be a community foundation. We changed the name by dropping the Inc. and the BBCF was born and has moved forward ever since,” said Sanders. He also explained that the motto of the foundation, “Taking what we have, to make what we need”, came from a saying from his mother, who used it to encourage her large family of 13 children, when things got hard.

    George McMillan, a former Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, who was an original BBCF Board member also attended and spoke. “We had days and days of meetings to work out the details and plans of BBCF. One thing that we can all be very proud of is our foundation in ‘community associates’ which guide and advise the foundation in every county, help to raise money, and serve as points of contact for people to communicate with the foundation. This is a unique element of BBCF’s structure and operations that other groups wishing to start community foundation have studied and tried to copy,” said McMillan.

    Felicia Lucky introduced the current Board of Directors, the staff including Headstart Staff, Community Associates, and other supporters in attendance. She gave a check for $1,000 to the Selma High School Band Director for their participation and invited various ministers to give dedicatory prayers for the dedication. Then current and past board members
    Assembled to officially cut a ribbon to open the new office.

    Persons interested in learning more about, or to donate to, the Black Belt Community Foundation, may contact the BBCF at 410 Church Street in Selma, Alabama 36702; or by going online to their website at: blackbeltfound.org, or calling 334-874-1126.

  • Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Selma on59th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ calling for ceasefire in Gaza and renewal of voting rights struggle in America

    -21st Century Leader Justin Morton speaks at Martin & Coretta King Unity BreakfastVice -President Kamala Harris addressing crowd of thousands at Bridge in Selma

    -L to R: John Zippert, Coumba Toure Ba, Maria Diarra Keita, Carol Zippert

    -US Representative James Clyburn with other congressional colleagues at Unity Breakfast

    -Maria Diarra Keita and Faya Rose Toure at Unity Breakfast

    -During their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Shown above Tommie Smith seated and Hank Sanders at Unity Breakfast.

    Speaking at the foot of the bridge in Selma, on the 59th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ in 1965, Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas War in Gaza and for a renewal of the voting rights struggle in America.

    Harris said that she had to begin her speech with the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Children are dying. Too many innocent people have been killed. People are starving, conditions are inhumane.” She said, “While Israeli security is our goal, we must call for an immediate ceasefire, to allow for assistance to flow to the people of Gaza, who have been suffering in a war between a terrorist organization, Hamas, and the Israeli government.”

    Harris urged both sides in the war to come to the table and accept an immediate ceasefire, which would allow humanitarian aid to flow into the beleaguered people of Gaza and result in a return of the hostages taken by Hamas at the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

    The Vice President then shifted her attention to the on-going voting rights struggle in America. She said she had returned to the bridge in Selma, with other members of the Biden Administration cabinet and administration, to celebrate the victory for voting rights, equality and overcoming fear and violence, that the original marchers 59 years ago had endured.

    She noted the retreat on voting rights and sections 4,5, and 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act since the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby vs. Holder and subsequent decisions. She lamented the hundreds of state legislative voter suppression laws that have occurred since that time.

    Harris endorsed efforts to pass in Congress the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which would restore and strengthen the voting rights protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
    “We must continue our struggle for the sacred right to vote in the face of our opponents who want to destroy the basis of our democracy and democratic institutions,” said Harris.

    The Vice President was accompanied to Selma by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of HUD Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Tanya J. Bradsher – Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
    Xochiti Torres Small – Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kristen Clarke – Deputy Secretary of the Department of Justice, and others. Several of these officials gave greetings and made remarks before the Vice President spoke.

    Local Dallas County officials and civil rights leaders including former State Senator Hank Sanders and Charles Steele addressed the crowd as well. After her speech, Vice President Harris joined others in leading the reenactment of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

    The bridge reenactment was one of more than forty events held in Selma during the weeklong “Bridge Crossing Jubilee” that drew thousands to the largest commemoration of voting rights, civil rights, and social justice in America. Persons who wish to support the ongoing work of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma, leading up to next year’s 60th anniversary, should Text 53555 Selma60, to contribute and get on the invitation list.

  • School board holds virtual meeting, superintendent gives update on academics and food distribution

    The Greene County Board of Education held a virtual meeting, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on Monday, April 20, 2020. Board members Carol Zippert, Kashaya Cockrell, Carrie Dancy, Leo Branch and William Morgan were participants including Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones, Attorney Hank Sanders, CSFO LaVonda Blair and central office staff, Sara Hall and Makane Morrow.
    The board minutes of February 18 and the emergency meeting on March 19 were approved with necessary corrections.
    A key element of Superintendent Jones’ report was an update on the various school activities affected by COVID-19. Dr. Jones reported that the Child Nutrition Program (CNP) staff continues to prepare meals for pick-up. He noted that the maintenance department, administrators, central office staff and other volunteers have been of great assistance to the CNP staff.
    Meals pick-up have been limited to once per week as a safety measure for staff and community, however, the school system continues to provide the same number of meals per week per child. The superintendent stated that between March 23 and April 17, 38,534 meals were delivered.
    According to Dr. Jones, educational packets are delivered to each student with some students getting the lessons electronically and others, not having devices and internet access, receiving their materials in hard copy. He stated that teachers are instructed to communicate with students on a regular basis and to document all contacts. The superintendent meets virtually each week with his administrative staff.
    Jones noted that the school system is in the process of securing additional devices, such as tablets, for students use. “The school system will continue to utilize electronic devices in conducting students educational program, beyond this pandemic crisis,” he said.
    The superintendent reported that the maintenance department is still caring for the grounds and equipment. In efforts to keep the school facilities sanitized, mist sprays are used and sanitation stations are set up for classrooms and hallways.
    The board approved the following personnel items recommended by the superintendent.
    *Family medical leave for Felecia Davis, effective February 28, 2020 – May 25, 2020.
    *Retirement of Rosie Davis and Linda Underwood, CNP Eutaw Primary School, effective June 1, 2020.
    *Supplemental employment of Siegfried Williams, Choir Director, Greene County High School, for 2019-2020 school term.
    *Non-Renewals: Sandra Artis, Pre-K teacher, Eutaw Primary School; Chardell Fredd, 7&8th grade teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; and Latausha Tinker-Mitchell, 5th grade science teacher, Robert Brown Middle School.
    The board approved the following administrative services recommended by the superintendent.
    *Hiring a company to replace roof at central office.
    *Settlement agreement for Special Education Student, Robert Brown Middle School.
    *Greene County Board of Education Organizational Chart.
    *Greene County Schools Calendar for 2020-2021 School year.
    *Budget Amendments.
    *Payment of bills, claims and payroll.
    The CSFO LaVonda Blair presented the financial reports for January and February. The financial snapshot for January included the following: General Fund Balance totaled $2,853,365.21 (reconciles with the Summary Cash Report); Check Register Accountability Report – $271,840.76 (total checks written for the period); Payroll Register – $841,714.73; Combined Fund Balance – $5,244,001.59. Local revenue totaled $2,094,621.60 (December and January).
    Financial snapshot for February included the following: General Fund Balance totaled $2,630,649.43 (reconciles with Summary Cash Report); Check Register Accountability Report – $293,831.01 ( total checks written for the period); Payroll Register – $841,864.72; Combined Fund Balance – $5,171,697.17. Local revenue totaled $169,259.01.
    CSFO Blair noted that the system is experiencing a delay in revenue stream, a decrease in sales tax and a stoppage in bingo income. She stated that all full time staff will continue to be paid and bills are paid on a timely basis. Blair noted that the budget adjustment before the board relate to $145,000 carryover in Title I and new revenue in various grants.
    Attorney Hank Sanders reported generally on various legal matters pending before the board, indicating that several hearing dates have been extended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
    The board approved hiring Attorney Robert Turner, Jr. to represent Superintendent Jones at the scheduled hearing for Joe N. Webb.

  • Greene County Alumnae Chapter presents plans for Census at Delta Day at County Commission

    County Commissioners seated L to R: Tennyson Smith, Lester Brown, Allen Turner and Rashandra Summerville. Deltas standing L to R: Evelyn James, Glenda Hodges, Johnni Morning, Miriam Leftwich, Jacqueline Allen, Shirley Stewart, Alfretta Crawford, Vibertha Coleman, Isaac Atkins, Carolyn Young, Nancy Cole, Phillis Belcher, Marva Smith, Florence Williams, Loydleetta Wabbington and Carol Zippert.

    During the March 9, 2020, meeting of the Greene County Commission, the Greene County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. shared their plans to tackle the 2020 Census. As part of their Political Involvement and Social Action activities, the chapter voiced its commitment to do their part to ensure Greene County and all of their service area are counted correctly on the Census. Along with other community partners and leaders, the chapter will host a Be Counted: 2020 Census Forum on Tuesday, March 24 at 5:30p.m. as well as volunteer at multiple sites on April 1st, National Census Day.
    The County Commissioners were open and receptive to the chapters plans.
    Isaac Atkins is Chapter President; Florence Williams is Political Involvement and Social Action Committee Chairperson.

  • FOGCE Federal Credit Union holds Annual Meeting

    The Federation of Greene County Employees (FOGCE) Federal Credit Union held its 44th Annual Meeting on December 19, 2019 in the recently dedicated Willie Carpenter Conference Room in the credit union offices at 112 Prairie Avenue, on the Courthouse Square in Eutaw, Alabama.
    Joyce Pham, Credit Union Manager announced that as of December 31, 2018, the FOGCE Federal Credit Union had assets of $1,314, 887, which included $896,874 of member’s shares, a $100,000 non-member deposit and the rest in reserves and undivided earnings. She reported a surplus of $10,076 in income over expenses for the year.
    She reported that the credit union had $466,544 in outstanding loans to members, $111,867 in cash, $31,000 invested in its building and the rest invested in other credit unions. She indicated that the credit union had 896 members.
    Rodney Pham, speaking for the Credit Committee stated that the credit union had made 449 new loans in 2018 for $338,675 including five car loans for $105,535.
    He said the credit union has a variety of loans, from small unsecured loans up to $500, larger loans for home repair, appliances, school expenses and other personal loans, as well as car loans for new and used cars.
    Carol Zippert, President of the FOGCE FCU reported on the history of the credit union movement and the specific growth of the local credit union since 1975. “We are saving and borrowing each others money. In one of the smallest, poorest counties in Alabama, we have accumulated over $1.3 million by working collectively together. In 44 years, we have grown the credit union to over a million in assets and moved from rented rooms in the back of other buildings to our own offices at the Courthouse Square in Eutaw.”
    Zippert indicated that the FOGCE Federal Credit Union was regulated and supervised by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a division of the U. S. Treasury Department. The NCUA also guarantees deposits in the Credit Union up to $250,000 for each account, similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantee for bank accounts.
    “NCUA makes sure your deposits are safe but they also have been very hard on smaller size credit unions like ours. They are always suggesting that we merge with a larger credit union. They are not encouraging credit unions like ours, which teach self-determination and self-development of financial skills, thrift and systematic savings in the Black community,” said Zippert
    Zippert also announced that the Credit Union Board had named the conference room in the back of it’s office building, as the Willie Carpenter Conference Room, in honor of the longtime Treasurer of the credit union, who passed away during the past year. “We will be placing a framed picture of Mr. Carpenter in the room with a written statement of his the dedicated work in building the FOGCE FCU over the past four decades,” said Zippert.
    Darlene Robinson, Vice-President pointed out that the FOGCE FCU has payroll deduction with the major employers in Greene County, such as the School Board, Catfish plant, Hospital, WestRock box factory and many others. “This means that you can make savings and pay loans through your place of work. The funds will come out of your check and come automatically to the credit union,” she said.
    Darlene Robinson was also Mistress of Ceremony for the Annual meeting and conducted elections, distributed door prizes and played some Christmas related games. Two members were re-elected to the Credit Union Board, Carol P. Zippert and Earnest Edmonds and one new member, Jackie Allen, was elected for three-year terms. James Powell and Debbie Rice were re-elected to the Credit Committee, which evaluates and approves loans.
    Robinson pointed out that the “FOGCE Federal Credit Union is open to all who live, work or worship in Greene County.
    Membership is $10 plus a minimum first deposit of $25. You can save regularly and systematically and your savings will grow. Then when you need a loan – you have a friendly place to borrow. The Credit Union office, on the Courthouse Square, at 112 Prairie Avenue, phone number 205/372-9025, is open weekdays, to receive new members.”

  • BBCF Greene County Associates collect 3,400 pairs of shoes with Funds2Orgs

    The Greene County Associates of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) completed a two-month drive seeking new and slightly used shoes for distribution to small-scale entrepreneurs in Africa, Haiti and other nations.
    The Greene County Associates shown in photo, L. to R: Darlene Robinson, Mildred Gill, Carol Zippert, Dean Williams, Nancy and Eddie Cole loaded a truck last week with 136 bags of shoes, with 25 matched pairs in each bag, destined for Funds2Orgs. Others who also assisted in loading the truck included Joe Thomas, Albert Hunter, Melvin Robinson and Kent Daniels. The Greene County Associates want to thank all the people who contributed shoes to this project.
    Funds2Orgs works with micro-entrepreneurs in helping them create, maintain and grow small businesses in developing countries where economic opportunity and jobs are limited. Proceeds from the sales of the shoes collected in shoe drive fundraisers are used to feed, clothe and house their families. One budding entrepreneur in Haiti even earned enough to send to her son to law school.
    Funds2Orgs will also pay the Greene County Associates, $10 per bag of shoes collected, which goes into our local fundraising efforts for the foundation. The BBCF matches what the local associates raise and grants these funds back to eligible Greene County non-profits serving the community.
    “The shoe drive is a win-win for everybody involved. People got to clean out their closets of slightly worn shoes. Funds2Orgs international entrepreneurs received new inventory to sell. The Greene County Associates grew our local fund will be matched and redistributed in community grants,” said Miriam Leftwich, Chairperson of the Greene County BBCF Associates.

  • Greene County BBCF Community Associates launch shoe drive to raise funds for community grants

    BBCF Community Associates L to R: Mollie Rowe, John Zippert, Miriam Leftwich and Carol Zippert

    Eutaw, Al 2019 – Greene County Community Associates (GCCA) of the Black Belt Community Foundation are conducting a shoe drive fundraiser starting May 20, 2019 thru July 20, 2019 to raise funds to support community local level grants to be distributed in Greene County next year.
    GCCA will earn funds based on the total weight of the pairs of gently worn, used and new shoes collected, as Funds2Orgs will issue a check for the collected shoes. Those dollars will come back to benefit Greene County organizations through the foundation’s community grants program. Anyone can help by donating gently worn, used and new shoes to GCCA members or at the Greene County Democrat Office – 206 Prairie Avenue, Eutaw – our primary collection point..
    All donated shoes will then be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of micro-enterprise (small business) partners. Funds2Orgs works with micro-entrepreneurs in helping them create, maintain and grow small businesses in developing countries where economic opportunity and jobs are limited. Proceeds from the sales of the shoes collected in shoe drive fundraisers are used to feed, clothe and house their families. One budding entrepreneur in Haiti even earned enough to send to her son to law school.
    “We are excited about our shoe drive,” said Miriam L. Leftwich, GCCA County Coordinator. “We know that most people have extra shoes in their closets they would like to donate to us. By doing so, we raise money for BBCF Community Grants, and we have the chance to help families in developing nations who need economic opportunities. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
    By donating gently worn, used and new shoes to the Greene County Community Associates, the shoes will be given a second chance and make a difference in people’s lives around the world.
    The Greene County Community Associates ask you to encourage others to donate shoes to this worthwhile cause.
    Contact any member of Greene County Community Associates: Miriam Leftwich, Rodney Pham, Mollie Rowe, Geraldine Walton, Carol Zippert, John Zippert, Johnni Strode Morning, Andrea Perry. Nancy Cole, Valerie Watkins, Darlene Robinson or Johnny Williams.
    The primary collection point at the Greene County Democrat will be open on Mondays from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM; Tuesday- Thursdays from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM; and Fridays from 8:30 to Noon. Special arrangements for shoe drop-offs can be made by calling the Democrat at 205-372-3373.
    You may also contact any member of the BBCF Greene County Community Associates, including Miriam L. Leftwich, County Coordinator at 205-496-2070 or by email at Leftwicm@bellsouth.net, for more information on the shoe drive.

  • FOGCE Federal Credit Union holds Annual Meeting; Assets exceed $1.4 million; Savings at $923,381

    IMG_0508.JPGOn December 15, 2016, the Federation of Greene County Employees (FOGCE) Federal Credit Union held its 2016 Annual Meeting.
    Rodney Pham, Credit Committee Chair, on behalf of the Manager reported that the credit union had $1.416,308 in assets as of November 30, 2016. Of this amount $ 923,381 are shares deposited by members and $200,000 in non-member deposits from other credit unions and non-profit organizations. The balance of the assets are in reserve funds and undivided earnings.
    As of November, the credit union had $452,346.57 out in approximately 300 loans to members. The credit union makes loans against shares, personal loans, education, new and used car loans and other loans of benefit to members. Pham said, “The delinquency rate on loans was under 1%, which means our members understand that we are borrowing from each other and have a responsibility to pay back loans.”
    Carol Zippert, President of the credit union reported that the credit union began in 1975 with 25 members and less than $10,000 in assets and has grown to 848 members and $1.4 million in assets. “This is a great achievement for a Black owned financial institution in one of the smallest and poorest counties in Alabama, “ she said.

    The FOGCE – FCU is open to all people who live, work and worship in Greene County There is a ten dollar membership fee to join and a minimum share deposit of $25.00 then all other money you put in goes to your saving shares. FOGCE-FCU is regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which reviews the credit union annually and guarantees member’s savings to a maximum of $250,000 per account.
    Members of the credit union are the owners and have one vote towards electing the Board of Directors and Credit Committee of the FOGCE Federal Credit Union. The organization is a financial and economic development organization democratically controlled by its members. At the annual meeting, Willie Carpenter, Earnest Edmond and Carol P. Zippert were re-elected to the Board of Directors and Mary Dunn, Rodney Pham and Vonda Richardson were elected to the Credit Committee.
    The FOGCE-FCU has direct deposit of payroll for some Greene County employers and payroll deduction with most others. Members can save systematically and automatically through the payroll mechanism. Loan payments may also be made by payroll deduction.
    Darleen Robinson, Chair of the Supervisory Committee conducts annual reviews and internal audits of the credit union to insure that all funds are used properly and are accounted for correctly. “ We welcome members suggestions and questions so we can improve the work and performance of the credit union,” she said.
    John Zippert and Pamela Madzima of the staff of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives of which FOGCE-FCU is a member also attended the meeting and made supportive remarks.
    Carol Zippert said that FOGCE-FCU must increase its membership and attract more young adults and millennials to our membership. “We need to set a goal for 2017, to have $1 million dollars in membership savings. This will require new members and old members depositing at least $ 75,000 in new savings into the credit union. I believe we can do this if we work together,” said Zippert.

  • 21st Century youth attend leadership camp

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    Senator Hank Sanders leads discussion on leadership traits with participants
    at 21st Century’s Youth Leadership Development Winter camp.

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    L to R: Harambe participants at 21C Winter Leadership Camp held at the Selma Center for Non violence, Truth and Reconcilliation. Justine Morton, Akeem Hardy, Alphonzo Morton, IV, Ivan Peebles, Alphonzo Morton, III, Destiny Dancy, Jamia Jackson, Carol Zippert, Daijah Means.

    Approximately 40 students, representing five counties, participated in the annual 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement Winter Camp in Selma, AL, December 2-4, 2016. The week end activities opened on Friday evening with the usual pep rally of freedom and leadership songs composed over the years by 21C founder, Attorney Faya Rose Toure.
    This was followed by a special presentation by Mrs. Annie Pearl Avery on her coming of age and continuing activities in the Civil Rights and Freedom Movement.

    Mrs. Avery, a former SNCC worker, held engaging exchanges with the students who were in awe of the risks she and so many others took in the struggles across the South.
    Saturday’s activities included Mindful Movements led by April Caddell, Co-Coordinator of the Winter Camp. April also led a session on Mindfulness is a Super Power. A core session on leadership traits was presented by Senator Hank Sanders, utilizing the leadership strategies in the story of Gideon from the Bible.
    The students viewed a documentary, entitled 13th, on the prison industrial system produced by Ava Duvernay. The following discussion was led by Alphonzo Morton, III, Camp Co-Coordinator. The film brought out how the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution condones the slavery of persons incarcerated. Slave labor of convicted felons became a big enterprise in this country.
    Pep rallies with original 21C songs were inserted throughout the day, which was capped off with a trip to the movies for entertainment. All camp participants, students and adults, enjoyed Almost Christmas at the Walton Theater in Selma.
    The week end camp closed out by noon on Sunday with a Takeaway Session where the young people shared their experiences and leadership lessons learned.
    21st Century Youth Leadership Movement was founded in 1986 as a non profit organization dedicated to developing young people as community directed leaders. The various county chapters are led by volunteers who are committed to the vision and goals of the organization.