SANDY SPRINGS CIVIC ROUNDTABLE

Updated 3/28/01

 SANDYSPRINGS.ORG

SANDY SPRINGS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Big Trees Forest Preserve, Inc.

Big Trees Forest Preserve, Inc., is a nonprofit 501(c)3 volunteer conservation organization dedicated to the preservation, protection and management of a  beautiful 30-acre urban forest located in the heart of north Sandy Springs. Big Trees is part of the Fulton County Parks and Recreation program.  

The Forest is a Tree, Plant and Wildlife Sanctuary and Urban Forest Education Center are managed for the benefit of the public.  Big Trees Forest Preserve interprets and protects the forest resources by fostering forest education, with special emphasis on forest ethics and stewardship.

This hilly topography features a middle growth forest with some large white oak trees, flowering native azaleas and wildflowers amidst 1.5 miles of walking trails, two creeks, bridges, and a handicapped accessible path.  Soft pathways offer quiet nature walks and relaxed reflection in a peaceful forest atmosphere.  The most charming and appreciated feature of the forest is its sense of being a remote island -- a visual, mental and spiritual oasis.

The Big Trees Organization promotes the community's use of this public park as a natural environment in which to learn and contemplate nature.  There is a $2 daily admission charge with free admission for members.

Breast Friends

Breast Friends, a one-to-one breast cancer support network that provides individual emotional support and practical assistance to breast cancer patients and their families. Services include 24-hour telephone support line, free transport to and from treatment, companionship during treatment, in-home and hospital visits, peer support for family members and friends and other valuable services. 

Breast Friends needs weekday office volunteers, and volunteers to provide transport to treatment, telephone support, and other
services for families with breast cancer. If you are interested in giving time to help breast cancer patients and their families, please call Carolyn Hartfield or Lyn Wasserman at 404-843-0839.

Committee for Sandy Springs/Citizens for Sandy Springs
The Committee for Sandy Springs was created to secure a referendum to incorporate a City of Sandy Springs. The Committee lobbies in the General Assembly and offers a speaker's Bureau to Sandy Springs organizations. Citizens for Sandy Springs is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the residents of Sandy Springs on the possible effects of incorporation. Click here to keep up with the movement for incorporation.

Community Action Center, Inc.

The Community Action Center, supported by its 19 member churches/synagogues, offers emergency assistance to families in need, including financial, food, clothing and referrals. Special programs include Thanksgiving baskets and a Christmas program.

Community Education Force

Community Education Force is a non-profit 501 c(3) organization focusing on educational needs in Sandy Springs. Its mission: "To serve as a catalyst to develop, implement and incubate programs, bringing together organizations to form partnerships and collaboratives to meet the education needs of youth in our community."

Community Education Force publishes the Learning Begins at Home Preschool activity calendar.  This unique calendar features daily activities to help parents prepare their children to be "ready to learn" when they enter school. 

Contact:  Anne Holbrook - 770-394-2733, anneholbrook@mindspring.com

Best Kids, an outreach program with the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA, provides a safe haven with mentoring and enrichment activities for youngsters who are unable to use traditional after school and summer programs. 

Contact:  Carol Blanchard - 770-451-9622

Conversations with our Daughters offers productive, meaningful, supervised after school and weekend activities for high school students where they learn about career preparation, personal development skills and participate in community service activities.

Contact:  Angie Blanchard - 770-551-2490

Dorothy Benson Senior Multipurpose Complex

The Dorothy Benson Senior Complex is the largest and most unique government operated senior day facility in the 
country, offering over 150 different programs to over 2,000 participants on a monthly basis. Through three levels of 
programming --multi-purpose, neighborhood senior center, and adult day -- education, health, exercise, socialization, 
transportation and nutrition are provided to the active independent senior, the semi-dependent senior and the dependent 
senior.

Friends of SS Library (FOSSL) 

The Friends of the Sandy Springs Library (FOSSL) is a non-profit volunteer organization formed to support the library through fundraising projects, volunteer work, and membership fees. Two large annual book sales are held in April and October.

The Georgia Conservancy
Organized since 1969, the Georgia Conservancy is a non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to protect air and water quality, and preserve natural resources throughout the state. Conservancy Programs include the Blueprints for Successful Communities, and the Livable Region Campaigns I and II.

Glenridge Hall

Glenridge Hall is a private historic residence located in a fifty-acre private forest nature preserve near the intersection of Glenridge Drive and Abernathy Road/Georgia 400. The 1920's era residence is decorated for Christmas and open to the public for charity fund raising the first two weekends of December.

Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce

The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce promotes and maintains a positive environment in which both existing and new businesses can thrive, and works actively to sustain the economic prosperity and quality of life enjoyed in the North Fulton Community.  Special programs such as the Existing Business Day, The Small Business Person of the Year Award, Business Expo & Job Fair, and Community & Business Summit all promote the successful North Fulton business community.  Committees such as Quality Growth 2020 and Workforce Development & Education seek to find solutions to community issues such as sewer capacity, transportation and providing an adequate worker pool.

Keep Sandy Springs-North Fulton Beautiful
Keep Sandy Springs North Fulton Beautiful, Inc. is dedicated to educating, influencing, and activating our community in the beautification, conservation, and preservation of our environment.  KSSNFB programs educate individuals about litter prevention, beautification and ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and properly manage waste materials.   KSSNFB also offers workshops on water and air quality.

Leadership Sandy Springs
Leadership Sandy Springs was founded in 1986 with the mission to identify, educate and develop emerging Sandy Springs leaders, rallying those individuals for community action and improvement. Originally sponsored by the Sandy Springs Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Sandy Springs is now a separately chartered non-profit organization governed by its own Board of Trustees and by-laws.

Ongoing programs include:

• Annual leadership training program;

• Special projects such as Sign Toppers;

• Fund-raisers to support Community Action Center and Kids At Risk, and purchase of vans for recreation and medical transportation.

Perimeter Transportation Coalition, Inc.  

The Perimeter Transportation Coalition (PTC) is a business-sponsored nonprofit organization in the Central Perimeter area (Fulton and DeKalb Counties) dedicated to helping businesses work together to improve mobility and access.  The PTC offers realistic commuting alternatives to employers and employees while working to improve the transportation infrastructure around the area.

More than 90,000 employees, shoppers, and residents travel the Central Perimeter everyday - and they are spending too much time sitting in traffic. The PTC is a new resource for the business community to find better ways to keep move PEOPLE around the Central Perimeter, not just cars.

North Springs Cluster Schools Area Advisory Committee 

Part of the Fulton County School System, the North Springs Cluster Schools are comprised of North Springs High School, Sandy Springs Middle School, Spalding Drive Elementary School and Woodland Elementary School. As an arts and science magnet cluster, the North Springs Cluster Schools place offer extended courses of study in the subjects of math, science and the performing arts.  The Area advisory Committee serves as an umbrella organization for the four schools, coordinating school activities, consulting with local school administration, and addressing areas of concern for each school individually and as a cluster.

Sandy Springs Arts & Heritage Society 

Sandy Springs Arts & Heritage Society, Inc. was formed in 1980 to preserve the cultural heritage, and to promote the arts and artists within the Sandy Springs community. In the past, the organization has sponsored musicals, art contests in the schools, and the production of a video chronicling the history of the community. Current focus is on visual arts and artists. Sandy Springs Arts and Heritage acts as a support arm for the Abernathy Park Arts Center.

Sandy Springs Business Association

The Sandy Springs Business Association was established to "promote the unique identity of the Sandy Springs business community, and to make Sandy Springs a premier destination for consumers of quality goods and services."  SSBA works actively to inform and unite, to build consensus on key issues, and to provide an influential voice with our partners in local and regional government.  Activities include monthly breakfast programs, the Retail Roundtable, SSBA membership Directory, seasonal marketing promotions for retail businesses and restaurants, a community beautification and maintenance program, and SSBA Job Bank.  SSBA is an initiative of Sandy Springs Revitalization, Inc. 

Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable   
The Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable is a non-profit non-partisan organization that brings leaders and individuals representing the many civic groups, neighborhood associations and businesses of Sandy Springs together under one umbrella. Its mission ~ to identify and support common goals on behalf of the community that will improve and enhance the quality of life in Sandy Springs. Through its issue-based meetings, the Civic Roundtable provides an important forum for the presentation and discussion of issues vital to the community. In addition, the Civic Roundtable publishes a membership Directory of Sandy Springs "movers and shakers", and provides timely information on community meetings via the Civic Roundtable E-mail network. 

Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods

The mission of Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods is: To provide an organization to identify common issues, to achieve common goals, and to stabilize, preserve, protect, and enhance the quality of the Sandy Springs neighborhoods and community.

The SSCN organization seeks to bring together all homeowner and condominium associations of Sandy Springs in an effort to unify the community, pool knowledge and talents, to provide a larger more effective organization, and to help each other accomplish what is best for the neighborhoods in Sandy Springs. 

All homeowner and condominium associations are welcome and urged to join and participate.  A designated person and an alternate shall represent each such group and each group that is current in dues shall have one vote in all matters coming before the SSCN.

Sandy Springs Historic Community Foundation
Mission:  The Sandy Springs Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization serving Sandy Springs since 1985. The mission of the Foundation is to preserve Sandy Springs community history, and offer educational programs designed to promote community pride and identity. Visitors can tour the Williams-Payne historic site, which features a restored 19th century Sandy Springs farmhouse, furnished with period antiques, as well as natural gardens and the springs for which Sandy Springs is named. The Sandy Springs Historic Community Foundation sponsors various activities and events including: summer concerts, storytelling, lecture series, Sandy Springs Festival held each September, and Ghostly Gathering at Halloween.

Sandy Springs Kiwanis Club  

The Kiwanis Club is an international service organization for men and women who desire personal involvement in the leadership and improvement of their communities.  Although a part of an international organization, each club operates independently, deciding which projects are needed and how funds will be raised for these projects. 

Sandy Springs Lions Club

The Sandy Springs Lions Club is part of the world's largest service club organization with over 1.4 million members worldwide. Since 1925 when Helen Keller addressed the Lions and asked them to be "Knights of the Blind," the main focus has been to work with the blind and sight impaired individuals in our communities. Since 1954 the Sandy Springs Lions have led numerous fund raising projects to support Lions Club charities including the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind, and the Children's Eye Center at Emory University among others.

The Sandy Springs Lions meet at 7:00 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month at Eden Gardens, 5399 Northland Drive. 404-252-5675.

Sandy Springs Revitalization, Inc.
Sandy Springs Revitalization, Inc. (SSRI) is a private non-profit tax-exempt community planning and development organization incorporated in 1994 to implement the Sandy Springs Revitalization Plan.  The revitalization plan addresses three major quality of life elements:   Improving the image, function and economic health of the business district;    Alleviating traffic congestion and improving pedestrian access;   Preserving neighborhoods.

The organization membership is composed of business owners, residents, and government officials, united by common goals -- to restore a sense of community focus and pride in Sandy Springs as a desirable and prestigious community in which to live, work, and play; and to maintain the competitive status of Sandy Springs in the Atlanta metro market as a premier commercial and residential location. 

Under the guidance of its 17 member Board of Directors, it is the job of Sandy Springs Revitalization, Inc. to identify and define projects, develop an action program, obtain the necessary resources, and build the project teams to make these projects happen in accordance with the Revitalization Plan goals and concepts.   Through SSRI’s planning and development efforts, improvements to the Roswell Road streetscape are already evident, including new and wider sidewalks, distinctive lighting, and upgraded landscaping and signage in the business corridor underway for 2001.

Sandy Springs Society 

Through its programs of community interest and its association with other organizations in the community the Sandy Springs Society seeks to restore and preserve the physical history and natural beauty of Sandy Springs, and to promote the civic, social and educational well-being of the community.   The Sandy Springs Society provides financial support and services to the Sandy Springs Foundation, Inc. and other Sandy Springs community groups.

Senior Services North Fulton, Inc.    

Incorporated in 1991, Senior Services North Fulton, Inc. is a private nonprofit organization which is responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering programs and services for citizens of Roswell, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs who are sixty years of age or older.  SSNF programs address the life support needs of frail and vulnerable older adults.  The Agency mission is to:  To provide a variety of services that will help seniors of North Fulton live independently for as long as possible, thus improving their quality of life and minimizing premature institutionalization;   And to enable seniors to participate in the community by increasing their access to varied resources and community support systems.  Services include:  Case management, “Meals on Wheels”, volunteer, homemaker and errand services, transportation referrals, Senior Centers.  Senior Services North Fulton is funded in part by the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the State of Georgia, and Fulton County.  SSNF also invites individual tax-deductible contributions and business donations through The Corporate Forum.  

Do you have an announcement for the E-mail network or a question for the Roundtable?  Please contact us at SSCRT@sandysprings.org.

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