Volunteer Firefighter Joey Tuner of the Clinch County/Homerville VFD died last February during training exercises at the Georgia Fire Academy. While both State and Federal benefits have been applied for, it will be some time before they are paid out, if they are        paid out. To date, Workman's Comp has denied the claim and Joey's wife, Suzanne has been saddled with nearly $ 25,000.00 in medical bills.

Unfortunately, Joey did not have any life insurance and Suzanne has fallen upon hard financial times. She has already lost her vehicle and has no transportation making it very difficult for her to work. Additionally, she is not far from losing her home.

We, Georgia's Fire Service, have an opportunity to show our communities what we are made of, and that we truly are unified as one, regardless of what end of the state we come from. We have an opportunity to  stand together and help Suzanne out.

                Our goal:

We are trying to obtain a used vehicle in good shape that can be donated  so she can return to work.

We are trying to raise $ 1,000.00. These funds would be used to provide a tag and automobile insurance for one year.

We are trying to raise $ 7,500.00 be utilized to provide 10 months worth of house payments so Suzanne does not lose her home.

Monetary donations can be made to the "Joey Turner Memorial Fund" at any Wachovia Bank branch.

 The donation of a vehicle can be made to GMAG, a IRS 501 (c)(3) corporation, this will allow for the charitable tax credit.

For further information please contact Dennis Thayer at: dthayergmag@comcast.net or by phone 678-787-2635.

Dennis J. Thayer

Deputy Chief Statewide Operations

Georgia Mutual Aid Group

935 E. Confederate Avenue

Atlanta, Georgia 30316

C. 678-787-2635

Fax 770-528-8323

dthayergmag@comcast.net

www.gmag.org

April 1

        Hey guys and gals! We the E-Board wanted to just give you a little update as to what is and is not going on with the Metro Atlanta FOOLS. We have had two successful E-Board meetings, one in February and one in March, and we have many things on the table. The biggest is our Firefighter Survival Weekend that you all just got an email about. This is just a taste of the things to come. We will be having events, not just for the guys, but for all those "significant others" too. The days of the once a year drunk fest for the boys is long gone. This is a new chapter and a new beginning. That being said, some of you have already done your part. You very quickly and honorably sent us a letter with a donation of dues and said let's go! In particular, I want to talk about one group of brothers and sisters.

           A few weeks ago, we recieved a letter from 9 firefighters in Union County (Blairsville). To make a long story short, these 9 dedicated brothers and sisters paid 90% of our dues for the 2008 year. To you we say thank you. You have been an intragle part of the Brotherhood in the State of Georgia. There have been others who have also contributed as well. To all of you, and you know who you are, we also say thanks. You have allowed us to get to the point that we are at today and with your continued support, we will hopefully be able to carry the torch for FOOLS across the country. We want to show EVERYONE what Honor, Tradition, Pride, and Brotherhood in the fire service is all about. What got us to put on the leather in the first place. Now that being said, we need to focus on another group.

          Many of you have sent emails saying, "YES!!! Keep me in the loop." We love you for that. We are currently pushing right at 200 active members. We paid dues for 2008 on 97 active members. Anyone who can do simple math should see that our numbers have doubled in just over 4 months! There are some of you out there who are new members and only filled out the application for the International. We will have in our hands tomorrow a stack of over 35 cards. They will be coming out soon. If you did not fill out a SECOND application for the local Metro Atlanta FOOLS chapter you need to do such ASAP!!! Go to the firefighter that gave you first heard about FOOLS from and ask him or her for one. Or if you can't do that for some reason, go to the link below and print one out and mail it to the address at the bottom.

         Now back to those who said "keep me in the loop". One simple question for you. Have you done your part to keep the true meaning of FOOLS going? If you can say yes, then please disregard this message. If not, then what is stopping you? If you want to know what needs to be done, we revert to the State of the Chapter email. You should all know what it said. We are all big kids here! If you need a refresher or just don't have a clue, email someone from the E-Board. We have done some serious work to keep in touch with all of you. Now it is your turn to return the favor, PLEASE. It will not be long before the lines of communication will be shut off to those who do not hold up their end of the deal. We are moving forward and we refuse to let anyone or anything hold us back from our destiny. So you ask, what is our destiny?

         We plan on doing everything we can to ensure that EVERYONE GOES HOME!!! (EGH) Plain and simple. It will take much hard work and dedication from all parts. Ours and yours. We are here, ready and waiting on you! LETS GO!!!

2009 Metro Atlanta FOOLS E-Board

April 1

Good afternoon everyone. I am writing you asking for your help. Many of you have emailed us in the past and said that you want to do something and be a part. Well guys and gals, HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!!! We have a current image on our website. We need another image. Our current image is good, but we the E-Board have agreed that we need a change. We are asking all who are out there who are "artists" to come up with some type of an image that can be the face of our new chapter. This image will be on our website, our shirts, our patches, our advertisements. EVERYTHING!!! The kicker is we need this pretty quick. So put on your thinking caps and let us see what you come up with. The E-Board will narrow down the choices and then put a few of them out to the masses. We will also be calling on you all very soon for a very large event that is coming up. This will be the largest event that FOOLS has ever done in the State of Georgia. If you believe in what we are called to do, and believe in FOOLS, then we hope that our soon coming call for help will not fall on deaf ears!  You will not want to miss this!

Chris Holcombe

Treasurer/Secretary

Metro Atlanta FOOLS