Running in Your Undies Help Save Lives

Cobb County resident and colon cancer survivor Dawn Gagliardi is among the hundreds of Metro Atlanta participants in The Undy 5000—a 5k race in underwear to help raise awareness for colon cancer.

The Undy 5000 5K Run/Walk to fight colon cancer will return to metro Atlanta for the third consecutive year. Cobb County resident and colon cancer survivor Dawn Gagliardi is among the hundreds of participants who will be running in their underwear to help raise awareness for the disease this weekend in Marietta. In 2002, Gagliardi was constantly plagued with an upset stomach, discomfort, bloating and extreme pain. She was told that she had Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The IBS treatments, however, did not work for her even after countless visits to the doctor's office. After her visit to a gastroenterologist and receiving a colonoscopy, she was immediately diagnosed with stage II colon cancer at just 31 years old. Along her journey fighting the …

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Kennesaw Veterans Group Finds Home

Local philanthropist Hervey Ross steps up and gives American Legion Post 304 a place to call their own.

While most American Legion Posts have a place to call home, North Cobb Post 304 in Acworth/Kennesaw founded in 1991 has literally gone from “pillar to post” to hold their meetings, enjoy fellow veteran’s camaraderie and ideate ways to help veterans and serve the youth of their community. The Post currently meets at the Georgia Army National Guard Armory on McCollum Parkway in Kennesaw, and boasts almost 300 members. It is fondly known around the state as “the little Post that could”—having accomplished so much with so little. The veterans' dream for the past 21 years of having their own place to work have finally been answered. Local benefactor and philanthropist Hervey S. Ross, who's a veteran of the Army during the Korean Conflict, has …

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David Burdette

1:58 pm on Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Thanks, Cris. We're there sporadically trying to get things "up to code" (if you know what I mean) but if you'll contact me I'll meet you there and take you on a tour of the 6,900 sq. ft. building and property. We're all tickled pink! Dave Burdette, Adjutant   more ›

Homeless Cobb Kids Get Helping Hand

Our Father's Hands provides quality clothing to families in need and has expanded assistance from just a few schools to all in the county's school district.

Children living in shelters, abandoned buildings, cars in parking lots, extended-stay motels and safe houses after their mothers got out of abusive relationships—they’re the ones that drive Linda Lipp to continue on in the face of exhaustion and hardship. “These children do not have a refrigerator to put their artwork on when they come home from school,” the West Cobb woman said. “Often, these children only have what they can fit in a suitcase or a backpack.” Listening to God’s calling, Lipp gave up her job as a successful loan officer to found a ministry that helps clothe the hundreds of homeless children in the Cobb County School District.  Our Father’s Hands started in 2005 with just a storage building at Lost Mountain Baptist Church. …

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What You Didn't Know

VIDEO: Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Tackles Underage Drinking

The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce teams up with civic organizations and the government to help reduce underage drinking.

The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce is conducting a community survey to help identify effective strategies to reduce underage and youth binge drinking. More than 2,000 participants from Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs, Smyrna and unincorporated Cobb County are needed by Sept. 30. A similar survey was previously conducted in 2009 as a requirement of the Sober Truth On Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP) Grant.  Click here to take the survey online or access it on the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce website at www.cobbat.org. Representatives of the following community sectors are encouraged to participate: business, civic, education, faith, government, healthcare, justice, law enforcement, media, parent, non-profit and youth. For more …

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VIDEO: MUST Ministries Fights Hunger

Volunteers served nearly 190,000 lunches to families in need this summer.

The Summer Lunches Program at MUST Ministries has just ended, and volunteers handed out a total of 189,648 lunches to needy children this summer—a 34 percent increase from last year. MUST started the Summer Lunch Program in 1995 in Cobb and Cherokee Counties in an effort to fight child hunger. In 2011, MUST Volunteers delivered 103,000 lunches to hungry children in Cobb and Cherokee, and the program was expanded to Douglas, Paulding, North Fulton and Gwinnett communities this year.

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What You Didn't Know

VIDEO: Support Your Local Veterans

Meet the new commander of the American Legion Post 304, and find out how you can support and connect with veterans in Cobb County.

The North Cobb American Legion Post 304 will be hosting its 2nd Annual 5K Run on Saturday, Aug. 18 at Dallas Landing Park in Acworth. The event helps raise money to support youths and veterans programs in Cobb County. You can register online at www.active.com, or click here to download the entry form on Post 304's website.

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Greatest Person: Thrash Helps Teens

Councilman Bill Thrash had a dream to open a safe place for local teens to go to after school.

Our Greatest Person feature highlights individuals who are making a difference in our community. This month, Patch honors Councilman Bill Thrash for his work with the Teen Center. To nominate our next Greatest Person, e-mail our editor at gaetana.pipia@patch.com. Kennesaw Councilman Bill Thrash is a man with a mission—to offer a place for at-risk Kennesaw teens that's safe, secure and encouraging. The Kennesaw Teen Center opened in February 2011 and was a collective effort between city officials, staff, businesses, and Youth Council members. “The dream started out as a spark with the Kennesaw Youth Council," said Thrash on opening day. "They worked to make everything happen. It didn’t happen because of me. I just talked about it, and …

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Donna Espy-Rypel

9:48 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

One of the best articles I've ever written on a fantastic person and someone who has truly left a legacy in the City of Kennesaw....Mr. Thrash passed away today...we will truly miss you, Bill Thrash....my prayers to his family and to all his friends and co-workers in the city government....   more ›

Group Brings Hope to Local Women

Helping One Woman meets monthly in Kennesaw and helps one woman move forward in her journey through tough times.

Kennesaw resident Sherrie Rodriguez believes in the truth of Proverbs 11:25: "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Put a female spin on that verse and you get the meaning behind Helping One Woman, a local group Rodriguez started in Kennesaw after her sister founded the organization in southern California in 2008. Its mission states that "we believe that when we help one woman, we are helping one family and, through that family, we are helping our community." The Kennesaw chapter meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at the O'Charley's Restaurant on Chastain Road. Women who attend each contribute $10 towards a woman who has been nominated to receive the contributions. "Since we …

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Behind the Voice: Pip Arnold

The 19-year-old Kennesaw Mountain High School graduate goes on to the battle rounds on NBC's "The Voice."

Phillip "Pip" Arnold takes the stage of The Voice sporting a button down shirt, orange sneakers, white suspenders and a plaid bow tie. "There is a house in New Orleans," the 19-year-old sings into the mic, soulfully lingering over the first few verses. By the time "of many a poor boy" artfully skips, then slides off his lips, judge Adam Levine is hooked, followed by Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green. A pop of the left suspender seals Pip's place as a crowd favorite. The Kennesaw and Marietta communities have rallied behind the 2010 Kennesaw Mountain High School grad whose palindromic name, Southern fraternity-inspired style, and soulful voice earned him thousands of new fans literally overnight following the Feb. 13 …

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Iraq Vet Graduates as War Ends

Kennesaw State's David Carper is helping other veterans join him in making the long journey back from soldier to civilian.

Iraq war veteran David Carper graduated from Kennesaw State University with his degree in human services Wednesday on the eve of Thursday's formal end to the war in Iraq. Now he plans to pursue a career helping other veterans as the transitions coordinator for Kennesaw State's Veterans Resource Center. "What makes the center unique is that everyone is a veteran," Carper says. "We’re not Army-specific or Marine-specific or Navy-specific. We have a very diverse culture. In the military, you only have one ethnicity, and that’s green." Carper says veterans are used to taking classes, following orders and working hard, "but we're not used to having to do it on our own with little guidance. We’re not used to doing it without support of fellow …

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Gaetana Pipia

11:56 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011

Members of our community are making national headlines. Our story on Iraq war vet David Carper is currently featured on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/kennesaw-ga-iraq-vet-grad_n_1154035.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false   more ›