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Mornings unPHILtered - New group aims to aid the hungry
'Feeding Statesboro' based out of Trinity Episcopal Church
Trinity episcopal Photo Web
Trinity Episcopal Church in Statesboro is the home of the newly-formed Feeding Statesboro group. The group plans to start a soup kitchen and help provide food for the needy. - photo by EDDIE LEDBETTER/staff

 The first guest on Monday's “Mornings unPHILtered” show was Rebecca Murray from the new Feeding Statesboro group. Their group, which already has nearly 50 members, is open to anyone who pays yearly dues of $5 or who provides five hours of service to the group within the first year.
    Murray told host Phil Boyum that, according to recent statistics, nearly 43 percent of the population of Statesboro lives below the poverty line. In addition, Murray said, 3,463 children in Statesboro live below the poverty line, and 5,247 children (55.9 percent of the children in the county) were eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the public schools.
    Currently, Murray said, there is one local church that runs a soup kitchen each Saturday; another that runs a food pantry serving dozens of needy families; and another that serves lunch several times a week. There is also a group of churches that started a program to provide food for needy school children for the weekends.
    Murray said she and a group of friends decided in June 2009 to establish another group providing food assistance. They are starting small, and will open a soup kitchen. Their Soup Kitchen will be located at Trinity Episcopal Church, and will serve starting on Feb. 23. They will serve from noon until sometime after one.
    She said the culinary program at Ogeechee Tech has agreed to help prepare some of the food that will be served. In addition to their group, volunteers include Georgia Southern University students and area churches. America's Second Harvest in Savannah will provide them with much of the food.
    Feeding Statesboro's board meets on the third Thursday of each month at Trinity Episcopal Church, which is located on the Bypass. Asked why she would start another non-profit group instead working with those that already exist. Murray said she was unaware of how many groups already existed, and was perfectly willing to work with these other groups to meet the community's needs.
    Boyum next welcomed dean of Georgia Southern's College of Business Administration Dr. Ron Shiffler. Shiffler spoke about a trip last weekend to Dublin, where department members Ed Sibbald and Anthony Barilla spoke to a group about the government's problems controlling the deficit and debt.
    Shiffler next discussed Don Berecz and his Forensic Accounting Program. Berecz has formed an advisory board of professionals and alumni of 23 people that will visit the college and his program. The members come from groups including the Georgia and Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and even the United States Secret Service.
    The department has a full schedule. This afternoon at 5 p.m., the forensic accounting department will hold their seventh annual Forensic Lecture Series, during which time Special Agent Philip M. Robertson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will speak on “Sex Lies, and Securitizations.”
    Shiffler said the College held a meeting in Savannah recently for prospective MBA program candidates, and have one coming up in Statesboro. It will be held at the Russell Student Union on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Room 2080.
    For more information about the program, call 478-5767 or go online to mab@georgiasouthern.edu. There will be a short PowerPoint presentation by Professor Elizabeth Holland, who is the director of the MBA program. Afterwards, there will be a question and answer session.
    
     “Mornings unPHILtered” airs live Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on statesboroherald.com and also simulcast on WWNS-AM 1240 on the radio. You also can listen anytime at BoroLive.com on statesboroherald.com
   

 

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