Commercial Truck Insurance in Decatur, GA

All Decatur students facing a new limited lunch plan have had their outstanding meal debt wiped out thanks to an overwhelming amount of help from the community and a new grant.

City Schools of Decatur announced earlier this month that starting on Feb. 1, the school system would begin serving an "alternative meal" of a cheese sandwich and milk to some students who have unpaid meal balances.

According to the updated procedures, students will have a maximum limit of three charged meals, equivalent to around $10.50 for high and middle school students and around $9.75 for elementary school students.

Once that maximum is reached, the students will receive the alternative lunch option until parents or guardians cover the debt.

School officials say the updated rules are about financial stability. The total unpaid lunch debt in the city is estimated to be around $88,000 - 36% of which is from students who receive free or reduced lunch.

Changes to Decatur school meal plan

Some parents of Decatur students are concerned about a new policy change that would serve cheese sandwiches to kids with unpaid lunch debt.

After news of the new policy spread online, metro Atlanta resident and Goodr CEO Jasmine Crowe-Houston set up a GoFundMe to eliminate all that debt.

"No child should ever go hungry or be subjected to unnecessary embarrassment due to financial constraints," Crowe-Houston wrote on the fundraiser. "I believe that every child deserves a full, nutritious meal to fuel their bodies and minds for a successful day of learning."

The GoFundMe met its goal within a couple of days.

Writing on Thursday, Crowe-Houston said her "heart is overwhelmed with emotion, astonishment, and gratitude" for the community's response.

"We can pay off all the meal balances and no cheese sandwiches," she wrote.

In a news release on Thursday, school officials said they were "grateful for the overwhelming support" and announced that all $88,000 in debt had been eliminated thanks to a corporate foundation grant. FOX 5 later learned that it was Arby's Foundation that paid off the debt. Arby's also donated $73,273 to Cobb County School District; $35,000 to Henry County School District; and $7,261 to Fulton County School District.

As a result of the corporate foundation grant, GoFundMe will be refunding everyone who donated to that account, according to Crowe-Houston.

Perimeter Roofing donated $60,000 to the school district through their nonprofit, Perimeter Cares, after learning about the debt. Owner Todd Price said that at least 100 people tagged them on social media after the story came out about the sandwiches.

Decatur schools say they also have finalized agreements to help provide assistance to any families of students who face financial hardships.

More than one school district in DeKalb County

In response to the overwhelming media attention after the decision by City Schools of Decatur Schools to offer cheese sandwiches to students who were behind on their school lunch bills, DeKalb County Schools, a separate district in the same county, released a statement on Thursday.

The district wanted to clarify any confusion between the districts and to proactively offer its policy for its school meals.

The full statement reads:

This story has been updated.

Decatur, GA — A semi-pro women’s soccer team is coming to Decatur this spring. Decatur FC, owned by resident and business owner Gareth O’Sullivan, will kick off its inaugural season on May 24 at Decatur High School.

The team will be competing in the Women’s Premier Soccer League and will play eight games in its regular season, plus potential playoff games. The season will run from May to July, and Decatur FC will play five home games at Decatur High School.

The coaching staff is currently holding tryouts and will announce players in the coming weeks. O’Sullivan said he has 14 players signed so far and is aiming to build a roster of 25 players. Campbell Chapman, a fellow Decatur resident, will be the head coach.

“I’m involved in the soccer community here in Atlanta,” O’Sullivan, principal of the ownership group, said. “I’ve always felt that the city of Decatur, specifically the proximity of Decatur High School, could be a cool set up for any type of team. When the opportunity arose to get a franchise in the WPSL, I decided to go ahead and do that and then piece together the next part of the puzzle, which was location.”

With numerous soccer clubs nearby and the various soccer events coming to the Atlanta area, Decatur provides an opportunity to showcase women’s soccer.

“There are quite a few teams in the metro Atlanta area on the men’s side, but this will be pretty much the only [women’s] team inside the perimeter and this side of town, so I think it’ll be a lot of fun for us providing the avenue to current college players and former college players that want to be a part of the league,” O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan grew up playing soccer in Ireland and played collegiate soccer in Tennessee. He played professionally in Europe as well and has coached for several years. O’Sullivan previously coached the Atlanta Beat, which competed in the Women’s United Soccer Association, in 2009.

In the early 2010s, the Atlanta Beat almost also created a WPSL team for the reserve players, so O’Sullivan is familiar with the league.

“It’s going to take us a while to build it,” O’Sullivan said. “Year one, we wanted to get it out there, get it going, get a competitive team on the field. For next year and going forward, we want to try to build a top, top team.”

As for next steps in the process, the team is working on getting its personnel in place and then will begin promoting the team ahead of the beginning of the season.

“We’re in the process of going from 15 miles per hour to about 90 miles an hour in our prep for the season,” O’Sullivan said.

Decatur FC will play in the Southeast Conference of the WPSL against teams from Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. The other Georgia teams are Atlanta Fire United based in South Forsyth, Georgia Impact in Canton and UFA Gunners in Cumming, which are affiliated with local soccer clubs.

O’Sullivan and his team aren’t affiliated with one particular club and are hoping to engage with all the youth soccer clubs in the area. He wants this to be a community based team.

“I think it could be a unique thing for the city of Decatur, and we’re hopeful that people will come out and support it,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s why we called it Decatur FC, because we want to showcase Decatur.”

Attendees will have to purchase tickets to attend the games. There will be concessions at the high school and the games will be livestreamed on Decatur FC’s website.

“I’m excited to see how competitive we can be year one and to see how that goes,” O’Sullivan said. “We want to create an environment where word gets out that we have a professional outlook about how we treat the girls and how we play, and we want the word to get out that this is a cool franchise to play for, so come 2025 we want to be fighting people away that want to come play for us.”

Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett, a big soccer fan and Atlanta United season ticket holder, is excited to see Decatur FC come to town.

A lot of soccer activity is happening in Georgia and metro Atlanta with the She Believes Cup, Copa América matches, the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the U.S. Soccer headquarters moving to Fayette County. With all the soccer happenings, “it is fitting that we in Decatur have yet another chance to see women’s soccer blossom beyond the youth leagues, school and college soccer,” Garrett said.

“We will be hosting teams from around the southeast and the rest of the state,” she added. “Once the schedule is established, we will absolutely make sure that visitors to Decatur feel welcome, and we look forward to showing off everything Decatur has to offer. Kudos to those who are making this happen.”

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DECATUR, Ga. (Atlanta News First/Decaturish) - A dog that went missing days ago while at an emergency vet in Decatur has been found safe.

Workers at Saint Francis Specialists and Emergency lost Hazel on Sunday. She had ingested a potentially poisonous substance left out by the dog sitter while her owner, Hannah Riley, was on vacation in Canada.

Riley quickly flew back to Atlanta and went to the vet, who she said had not communicated well with her.

Hazel, a 10-year-old Papillion, was found about half a mile away from Saint Francis.

Saint Francis took public heat for the incident and assisted Riley in the search.

“We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at Saint Francis Veterinary Specialists and Emergency a few days ago,” the hospital said.

Riley’s Twitter post asking for help went viral, which accelerated the search.

While the case received national attention, it was a Medlock Park woman who solved the case after reading an article from Decaturish, an Atlanta News First media partner. Melanie Mills told Decaturish that she was getting her kids ready for school Friday morning when she saw Hazel “just standing on my porch.”

“My wife opened the door to see what it felt like outside to start picking out clothes for the day, and there was a dog right there looking straight up at us,” Adam Mills said.

At first, Melanie Mills said she thought it was a neighbor’s dog and tried to shoo her away, but Hazel walked into her house instead of leaving. Soon, she noticed that some hair had been shaved from the dog’s leg where the catheter would’ve gone. Then she remembered seeing the story.

“I scrolled back and found the article and said, ‘I’m pretty sure this is her,’” Mills said.

And sure enough, it was.

Riley reunited with Hazel soon after and said she was “very tired” and sitting in her lap the whole way home. She said Hazel’s return is a testament to the “power of local media.”

“Tears were shed. Tails were wagged,” Adam Mills said.

Hazel’s journey to the Mills’ home could not have been easy. The bustling intersection of Lawrenceville Highway and DeKalb Industrial Way splits the two locations.

But, with numerous houses in the area, why stop at the Mills’?

“We have no idea,” Adam Mills said.

Riley rescued Hazel six years ago. They’ve been inseparable ever since.

“She’s my heart dog,” Riley said. “I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime relationship I’ll have with an animal.”

For the Mills’, they’re glad to play a role in helping Hazel find her way home.

“You know, not all these stories have a happy ending, so it’s very nice that this one does,” Adam Mills said.

Decaturish, an Atlanta News First media partner, contributed to this article.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - More than 24 people were forced from their homes following a massive fire that destroyed a building inside a DeKalb County apartment complex early Sunday morning.

Firefighters were called to Villas at Decatur Apartments off Eastwyck Circle shortly after 3:30 a.m. Fire officials say eight apartments were destroyed. No one was hurt.

Kenneth Welborn lives nearby. He saw reports of the fire on the news, he said.

“This is terrible. Getting messed up in a situation like this right at Christmas,” said Welborn. “I wanted to see if I could help somebody. That’s who I am, I’m 72 years old, so I’ve got to do something.”

The fire started in one apartment but then spread to the roofline, causing damage throughout the building. The roof partially collapsed in the middle as firefighters battled the flames.

“When it’s in the roofline like that, a lot of the structural integrity gets compromised, so you really don’t have any indication of stability. So, it’s more advantageous for us to extinguish it from the outside,” said Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Morrison with DeKalb County Fire.

This isn’t the first time a fire destroyed an apartment building in this complex. In May, several people were forced out of their homes when a fire ripped through six apartments. That building is still boarded up.

Carolyn Eberson, who lives next door, woke up to fire trucks parked out front. She says neighbors raced to help in the middle of the night.

“She looked out the window. There was nothing but red fire,” said Eberson. “He said that his daddy woke him up because he smelled smoke and got him out. After they got out, he went back in into the basement to get his dog.”

While firefighters know the fire started in one apartment, they’re still working to determine the exact cause of the fire. The American Red Cross is helping 24 people so far with immediate needs. A representative didn’t give an exact number, but said a few other residents impacted declined assistance. If you’d like to help the victims of this fire and other disasters, you can donate to the American Red Cross here.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.

DECATUR, Ga. (Atlanta News First/Decaturish/Gray News) - A dog that went missing last weekend while at an emergency veterinary clinic has been found safe.

According to reports, workers at Saint Francis Specialists and Emergency lost Hazel, a 10-year-old Papillion, last Sunday.

Hazel was reportedly taken to the vet after ingesting a potentially poisonous substance that was left out by the person watching her while her owner, Hannah Riley, was on vacation in Canada.

Riley quickly flew back to Atlanta after hearing her dog had gone missing. She went to the vet but said the team was not communicating well with her.

Riley shared Hazel’s story online and asked for help on social media to find her lost animal. The dog owner’s post went viral and accelerated the search.

A Medlock Park woman ended up finding Hazel on Friday after reading an article from Decaturish.

Melanie Mills told Decaturish that she was getting her kids ready for school that morning when she saw Hazel standing on her porch.

At first, Mills said she thought it was a neighbor’s dog and she tried to shoo her away, but Hazel walked into her house instead of leaving.

Mills said she then noticed that some hair had been shaved from the dog’s leg where a catheter would’ve gone, triggering her memory about seeing the dog’s story.

“I scrolled back and found the article and said, ‘I’m pretty sure this is her,’” Mills said.

And sure enough, it was.

Riley was reunited with Hazel soon after and said her little gal sat in her lap the entire way home. Riley said Hazel’s return is a testament to the power of local media.

According to Riley, she rescued Hazel six years ago and the two have been inseparable ever since.

“She’s my heart dog,” Riley said. “I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime relationship I’ll have with an animal.”

Decaturish, an Atlanta News First media partner, contributed to this story.

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