Carol Mays said when she was younger, a girl from her church was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“She passed away when she was 6,” Mays said. “On her final Christmas, she asked her uncle, who owned a funeral home, for a coffin. That has stuck with me my entire life and ever since then I’ve been doing anything I can to help children who are ill, including raising money at the restaurant.”
That restaurant is the Chili’s on College Drive in Dalton. On Tuesday a five-gallon jug filled with $300 in donations for St. Jude Children’s Hospital vanished from the restaurant.
General Manager Franco Gunnell credits Mays, who organizes local donations for the charity, for getting the word out about the missing donations. He said it was Mays’ phone calls and word-of-mouth that started a chain reaction of support. Mays said she felt compelled to get the money back because helping sick children is close to her heart.
Gunnell said members of the community have responded with even more donations, almost six times as much as the original amount, totaling $1,694.
“The Dalton community has turned a bad thing into a great thing,” said Gunnell. “The outpouring is very much appreciated. People didn’t have to do anything, but they did and we’ll remember that. We’re not going to take this for granted. If there’s a way that we can say thank you, let us know.”
Mays said word of the stolen donations spreading so fast, as well as the sudden local reaction, has been “unreal.”
“Dalton did what Dalton always does and it is just amazing to me,” she said. “I know how hard things are in our community right now, it’s hard to just live our day-to-day lives, but I want to tell everyone how thankful I am. You have helped us. You have helped in saving children.”
The local donations will be added to Chili’s Create-A-Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer campaign, which is eight years into a 10-year effort to raise $50 million for St. Jude. The campaign takes place each September during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The nationwide campaign has raised $777,617 so far this year, the company’s website said. Those donations will be given to St. Jude on Sept. 24.
Local News
Related Photos
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Tina Burnette puts money in the St. Jude’s donation box at Chili’s as Carol Mays and General Manager Franco Gunnell look on Thursday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Discussion
September 14, 2012
Local citizens give to make up for stolen donations
- Local News
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Police and Fire Games: Dalton firefighter snags second place
Mason Martin, back right, cheers on his mother, Serena Martin, an officer with the Dalton Police Department, as she pushes a patrol car as part of an obstacle course to determine the “Toughest Overall” during the Georgia Police and Fire Games on Monday at the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Department’s firing range. (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen)
A seasoned Dalton firefighter placed second in the Toughest Overall Competitor event at the Police and Fire Games in Dalton on Monday.
Continued ... - County school board expected to approve budget Wednesday morning
- Electric vehicle charging stations coming to Dalton
- Brochu leaving position in S.C.
- DPD seeks identity of cigarette snatcher
- Minding their P's and Q's
- Whitfield CERT members reach 141 after seventh class graduates
- Local agency can guide you through homebuying process
- Spring Place Ruritan Club receives awards
- Jun 16, 2013
- Ridley trades banking for farming
- Pilsbury diary to be unveiled at Bandy Heritage Center
- Blue Ridge wins Georgia Safe Routes to School award
- Dalton to host Police and Fire Games this week
- Phyllis Stephens: Building community leadership capacity
- Jun 15, 2013
- Ball for fathers and daughters
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