Free Meals for Families in Need Gwinnett County, GA – With schools and many businesses closed and the rate of unemployment increasing each week, families are finding it harder and harder to provide basic necessities for their household. In a collaborative effort to provide meals for families, LETTUM EAT! Inc. has partnered with the Gwinnett County NAACP, First Baptist Church Snellville, Guardian Financial Services, and also Brian Whiteside, Solicitor General of Gwinnett County to take the initiative and stand in the gap for those needy families with LETTUM EAT! Gwinnett - a free meal drive thru distribution event.

LETTUM EAT! Inc. is a mobile food service providing free meals to food insecure individuals and families in local Communities. Our Mission is Mobile Food Provisions Prepared with Care and Served with Compassion to those in Need. We are engaging a large network of resources involving experienced Chefs and Restaurant Professionals and partnering with local Churches with under used professional kitchens and Restaurants and Grocery Stores with daily food surpluses. We employ a formula that will impact Hunger in our Communities in a major way.

LETTUM EAT! Inc. has taken the parameters of those opportunities and developed a plan with the implementation of mobile food trucks to bring relief to individuals and families suffering from Food Insecurity. The goal is to provide at least 2500 meals each week. Since GCPS has been providing breakfast and lunches for families, LETTUM EAT! Gwinnett is focusing on dinners. This drive thru service is scheduled Monday through Fridays from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, starting April 13, 2020. The locations rotate each day: Mondays - First Baptist Church Snellville, 2400 Main St E, Snellville, GA 30078 Tuesdays - Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, 3458 Church St, Duluth, GA 30096 Wednesdays - Christ the King Dacula, 258 Rabbit Hill Road, Dacula, GA. 30019 Thursdays - Lawrenceville Cooperative Ministries, Inc., 52 Gwinnett Drive, Lawrenceville GA. 30046 Fridays - Norcross; TBD - see website for updates This effort will continue each week, contingent upon contributions.

​Times like these are when we see what communities are made of. It’s during these hardships that we see everyone come together to look out for their neighbors and for those in need. LETTUM EAT! Inc. is spearheading this movement for needy families, but they can’t do it alone. A contribution from the community will allow this effort to continue week after week. All it takes is approximately $10 to feed a family of 5. If you would like more information about Lettum Eat! Gwinnett and contributing to this effort, you can contact Chef Hank at: Instagram @lettumeat / website at https://lettumeat.com/lettum-eat-gwinnett.

I'm so excited to announce that Win It Wednesday contest will start next Wednesday April 15th.  I thought of doing Win It Wednesday while I was home working on what I could do to make Good Morning Gwinnett more fun while also bringing the listeners news and events from around Gwinnett County.  

Good Morning Gwinnett is my podcast I host Monday -Thursday.  On the show I talk about people and places around Gwinnett County.  I also cover news and events beyond Gwinnett.  I also interview special guest on some episodes.  Some of my guests include local politicians, business owners and other community leaders.

In and effort to make the show fun I start off each show with the daily horoscopes and I play music between the episodes.  Now to make the show even more entertaining I'm launching Win It Wednesday.

How Does Win It Wednesday Work?
The way that Win It Wednesday will work is that every Wednesday I will ask a trivia question about something that I said during an episode from the week before or from the current week.  In order for you to be able to possibly get the correct answer you will have to listen to the show.  The first person to call in with the correct answer will win the prize for the day.  You don't have to purchase anything in order to win.  You just have to be the first caller with the correct answer.  The call in number is 678-608-1413 and you must call between 10:35-10:50am EST. You must be a U.S.A. resident to win and close friends and family are not allowed to participate.

What Will The Prizes Be?
The prizes will be anything from gift cards, to concert tickets, to sporting events to branded apparel.  The goal is to give away fun gifts that people can use and enjoy. These gifts will come from me and also from sponsors who would like to provide the show with giveaways.  

Never Miss An Episode!
In order to make sure you know when an episode goes live download the Good Morning Gwinnett app to your phone.  By downloading the app you will also be notified when we are running special contests as well.  To download the app just up take your phone and open up the camera and point it to the picture below to add the app to your phone.

​Help for small business owners is available.  I already submitted my application.  This article was taken from the SBA website talking about what help is available for small business owners.

Overview In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000. This advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available following a successful application. This loan advance will not have to be repaid.

EligibilityThe SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan provides vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by COVID-19.

Businesses in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA’s size standards for those industries.
The Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance funds will be made available within days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid. 

Frequently Asked Questions for Faith-Based Organizations Participating in the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program
To apply for a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and loan advance, click here.

With so much going on today with the Coronavirus, small business owners and residents are struggling to make ends meet.  That is why the town of Lawrenceville has stepped up to the plate to help its residents.  Lawrenceville Is Offering Financial Support To Residents Who Need Money For Utilities.  If you are in need of help paying your electric bill or your gas bill, you may qualify for support from the Salvation Army. 

​The Salvation Army has $100,000 in support to help those who need help paying their utility bill.  By the time all of the assistance have been given to residents ands small businesses the total amount of money issued out will be around $2 million dollars.  I'm sure that those who are in need of assistance will appreciate the support that the town of Lawrenceville and the Salvation Army are giving them in such a trying time.

For more information about what you need to do to get access to this support listen to the latest episode of Good Morning Gwinnett or you can visit www.AJC.com and click on county to find out more information on this story and how you can get access to the money that is available to assist those who need help paying their utility bills.  

Because the Coronavirus is spreading so aggressively I asked my husband if he could ask his job if we could purchase some N-95 mask from them.  There is a shortage of the masks at the store, so I thought that maybe because he worked at a pharmaceutical company we could purchase some from them.  Well he forgot to ask and instead he went in the garage and found this one that was packed away in a box that has been there since we moved here almost 7 years ago.  

I talked about this on the show this morning and decided that I would take a picture and post it here.  With all of the social distancing we are all just a little bored.  I'm even trying to learn TikTok with my daughter and niece.

All kidding aside.  This virus is changing the the way we are living right now.  We all have to be safe and also keep our families safe. The mask that I am wearing above is not something that most people have just laying around, that's why you have to try and get the N-95.  They are saying that the regular hospital mask is not enough.  We will be trying to purchase some  from Uline which has a warehouse right here in Braselton.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were out as well.

On to another topic.  I saw a school bus delivering meals today to some of the students who live in my subdivision.  It's nice to see that there are still people out there still trying to take care of those who are less fortunate.  For some students this is so needed, because of hardships that their families maybe facing.  Anyway it's nice to see that there are good people out there.  

Stay Safe & Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

It's official.  Noise Media Network is open for business.  The ribbon cutting ceremony was yesterday to officially launch Noise.  Noise is a media & marketing company located inside Paradigm Work Hub in Dacula, Georgia.  We also have our podcast studio affectionately called The Noise Factory which is where Good Morning is now broadcasting live Monday-Thursday.  I will also be launching 3 more podcast this year that will be produced out of Noise.
​
Our focus at Noise is to help small business owners market their business by leveraging our media assets which includes the following:

• Noise Podcast Network
• NoiseMaker Magazine
• The Noise Report Weekly E-zine
• Noise TV Network

We know how important it is for small business owners to create exposure for their business, that is why we have all of these amazing platforms and services to assist them with putting their business out front for potential clients to see them.   
Our services are for the busy entrepreneur or the entrepreneur who knows their stuff as an expert, but not exactly sure how to market their expertise to their potential clients.

We're also excited about being able to produce podcasts for those who have something to say and have decided to say it via their own podcast.  Our podcast studio The Noise Factory has state of the art microphones that can host up to 4 podcasters at one time.  Podcasting is a growing industry and this is a great time to launch out in the deep and get started.  This is also a great way for businesses to expand their brand. 

Last but not least we have the NoiseMaker Business Alliance which is our marketing community.  We created this community to provide a place for small business owners to not only connect with others, but to also put marketing on autopilot for the members, so that they can focus on the business and we will focus on the marketing for them.

So as you can see we have a lot going on to help business owners to move their business to the next level.  Marketing is really important to every business and we understand some of the issues that small business owners my face and we're hoping to help them overcome those hurdles.  For more information about Noise go to www.NoiseMedia.us.
Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

​

I got invited to hang out with some of my girlfriends last night.  We were supposed to go to a Thai restaurant in Duluth, but I found out about Stories On The Square when I was doing the show yesterday morning.  I asked them if they mind switching our meetup location to Bibas which is an Italian restaurant located on Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville.  They all agreed, so we attended Stories On The Square and had a wonderful time listening to the stories from the group.  

I had no idea that story telling was so big here in Georgia and other places around the US & London.  Stories On The Square which meets the first Tuesday of each month in Lawrenceville is a part of Southern Order Of Story Tellers.  I found out there are conferences and conventions.  So, I had a very informative and entertaining evening.  Check out the pictures below of some of the story tellers.

Good Morning Gwinnett hosted the first annual Pop-Up Small Business Saturday this past Saturday at the Cornerstone Co-Working Space in Lawrenceville Georgia.  There were over 20 small home based businesses who were in attendance.  Many of the business owners I spoke to said that this was their first time ever vending at an event and that they were just launching out into the deep as an entrepreneur.  I was so happy that I decided to host this event.  I even had to turn vendors away because I ran out of space.  Next year I'm planning an even better event with workshops as well as vending spotlights.  There were a few hiccups that were beyond my control, but all in all I feel the event was a success because it did what I set out for hit to do.  That was to give small businesses who don't have a brick and mortar location the opportunity to get face to face exposure on Small Business Saturday.  Next year the event will be bigger and better.  Check out some of the vendors below.

This evening I hosted a virtual town hall with three hopefuls looking to take office here in Gwinnett County.  In attendance at this virtual town hall were Derrick J. Wilson, Rebecca Mitchell and Patsy Austin-Garson.  Each candidate talked about issues that they felt would make our community better.  You can watch the full event here.

https://www.facebook.com/703942414/posts/10157067062437415/

It's that time of the year again.  The Gwinnett County Fair is opening Thursday September 12, 2019.  The fair will run from the 12th-22nd.  On Thursday fair goers can get in free.  There will also be some great discounts for children.  If you love cotton candy, candy apples and foot long hot dogs, then you don't want to miss the fair.  I actually got a chance to go last year with my daughter who was about 5 months pregnant at the time.  This year I get to go with my daughter and my granddaughter.  

On opening day there will be a variety of activities through the day. Here are a few of the activities that you can attend when you purchase your tickets to the fair.

• Dairy Goat Show
• Gusty The Flying Fox
• Dr. Magical Balloon Show

Just to name a few.

I remember being a kid in Albany, GA  when the fair would come to town.  That was such an exciting time for my brother and I.  Last year was my first time going to a Georgia fair in about 35 years.  I had a great time and even ate a corn dog.  

This year I will go again and maybe this time I will eat something new.

Hope you go out and enjoy the fair. The fair is located at the county fairground 2405 Sugarloaf Parkway Lawrenceville, GA 30045.  To purchase your tickets in advance and take advantage of the discounts go to www.GwinnettCountyFair.com

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey