Subscribe with a Purpose

The Journal-Sun has created a new program to invest back in our community with your help. The promotion called “Subscribe with a Purpose has a goal to simultaneously build our local newspaper while helping local charities that represent the values and needs of Cass County. We believe that investing in your local newspaper should be also investing in your community.

We first started that plan with one of the great food banks in our community, Harvest House. According to many sources within the U.S., they say that around 10% of the people in our country don’t have enough to eat. However, in a community like ours in 2022 we were nearly 7% higher than even the US rate for 2022.

In our community, many families might qualify for government food assistance by meeting the threshold in one way but be disqualified in another. Pushing families to decide to stay home instead of getting additional work or better work. This ultimately affects our local businesses and the overall wealth of this community. Making a decision to pay for medicine or buy food can be too much for a person to choose. Staying on government assistance is a choice that people make instead.

Food pantries like these can help families move out of poverty by getting better work instead of keeping people in a rut. The hope is eventually that the hand-up will allow people to go back to the food pantry to help instead of receiving food or other assistance. With this in mind, The Journal-Sun partnered with Harvest House to keep their mission going. With the help of the community, we gave a check to Paul McDonald, the director of the charity. We hope that the giving will continue even after we presented the check to them. You can continue to donate to them at: https:// www.harvesthouseatlantatx.com/ Another need that pops up if you peruse through Facebook is a place to shelter stray animals. Almost every day on social media you see someone announcing they have found a different animal that has been abandoned.

This area does not have enough resources to take care of the problem. This is where Lucky U Rescue has stepped forward to try to be an answer to a big problem. Their goal is to take the old Brooks hospital that has been empty for a long time, and an eyesore to the downtown and turn it into something useful and functional.

For that reason, the Journal-Sun has decided to help try to get some of the resources it desperately needs to make the place functional again. Rescue U is the new charity we are partnering with through August. The Journal-Sun will donate $5 from every subscription to Lucky U Rescue through August. You can also drop off your donations to Lucky U Rescue to the Journal- Sun office.

Lindsay Robbins, one of the founders of the charity, says that they “have the projects broken down in three phases. The first is tackling the right area/wing of the hospital and the back storage room (once the laundry room). Abatement for just those areas is $30k. That does not include a new roof for the right wing. The goal is to do each project right after the other, to protect the work the environmental people do. The current roof is flat. We would like to put a pitch on it and then a metal roof. That way it will be easier to maintain and will be able to write it off on our taxes.”

Robbins says that the inside is only one aspect of the redevelopment. “As most people can see we’ve been demoing the front landscapes of the hospital. That’s because the guy mowing before is no longer being paid by the bank. And we cannot afford to pay him the same. So we decided to rip it out, mulch and everything. That way it will be easier to maintain and to change it out down the road.”

“We still need to rip out the grass behind the building,” says Robbins.

Robbins goes on to say that some of our current needs at the hospital and in the rescues with our fosters include Grass ripped out; a roof estimate; fencing estimates; towels; Dog food (Pedigree dry); wire crates; dog houses; dog pens; more fosters and of course money for spays and neuters.”

“Fortunately, our partnership with out-of-state rescues has helped us to be able to transport some dogs up north.

“Since last year we have rescued more than 50 animals. And that’s with little support and without a shelter. We still have quite a few pups in foster care. And are working on helping other rescues in the area as well.”

Lindsay says she also is waiting to hear back from the Texas Historical Commissioner’s office about making the hospital a “historic building” which will allow them to qualify for more grants specifically for the building abatement. And remodel.”

The Journal-Sun’s goal for this project is to get 200 subscriptions and have at least a thousand dollars donated to Lucky U Rescues through the Journal-Sun office. If you would like to help, please send in your new subscription, or donation to: The Journal-Sun, 306 W. Main, Atlanta, Texas 75551. Please include information like the address where you want the subscription to go to and your email address if you would like the e-edition. You can also subscribe online at: https://casscountynow.co If you would like your organization to be considered in the future contact shawn@casscountynow.com .