Peach Pulse

November 25, 2008

Hometown Heroes
Taking Care of Firefighters

Atlanta firefighters are used to saving lives. Now Denise Lewis, Senior Human Resource Director at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company (FFIC), has stepped in to aid them. As Atlanta Task Force Leader of the Fireman's Fund Heritage philanthropy program launched in August 2004, Lewis is heading a mission to provide firefighters with greatly needed programs and equipment.

Many Metro Atlanta fire departments are suffering from an extreme lack of resources as a result of the city's dire budget woes. Lewis was alarmed when she learned of an instance where two firefighters were forced to share a breathing mask. "FFIC recognizes the communities' needs and is stepping up to the challenge," says Lewis.

The Fireman's Fund Heritage program has already awarded $300,000 in grants to fire departments throughout the area to fund public fire safety education programs, fire fighter gear, breathing equipment, extrication tools, and the building of a fire safety house. Lewis highlights the FFIC donation of thermal imaging cameras, which allow firefighters to see through walls where a fire victim may be trapped. Says Lewis, "We're looking at proactive measures to make our communities safer."

With Metro Atlanta's steady population growth, Lewis says the difficulty in meeting the funding needs of firefighters and the communities they serve will likely be ongoing. FFIC recently helped fund a community emergency response team in Alpharetta and launched a new program dubbed the Bucket Brigade, which allows organizations and partner agents to write in grant requests.

Says Lewis, "I'm passionate about being able to provide for the needs of firefighters and excited that we're putting the right equipment in cities that need it." - by Nicholyn Hutchinson

More scoop: (404) 879-9113 or email firemansfund@ketchum.com

Dorothy Gillespie

As part of ATL[Art]05, acclaimed artist Dorothy Gillespie's works are currently on exhibit at Thomas Deans & Company Fine Art's gallery in Buckhead. Gillespie, 84, is considered one of the nation's foremost women artists: Her works are in collections of the Guggenheim Museum, Rockefeller Center, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Yale University Art Gallery, and others. Gallery owner Thomas Deans says, "I've known Dorothy's work for years and was astounded that she never had a solo show in Atlanta. Her energy, verve, and vitality, her eternal youthfulness, is very much a reflection of what Atlanta is about."

Gillespie says, "I live in a kaleidoscope world." Her work invites the viewer into this world. Her painted enameled metal sculptures are an expressive symphony of vivid colors, fluid movement, and shifting form. She describes her sculptural art as playful, saying that "it's based on my wonderment as a child with dimension and color." Despite her age, she has never lost this wonderment, which is exactly how she wants it. She calls her work "timeless. On seeing pieces recently that I did 40 years ago - they looked to me as if I did them yesterday."

On creating exceptional art, she says, "What I would say to young artists today is that powerful art comes from within and through you. The artist is a channel, and if you're really, really lucky as an artist, something great flows through you."

The Dorothy Gillespie: Color in Three Dimensions exhibit runs through April 26. Gillespie will also be participating in the 2005 College Art Association (CAA) conference Feb. 17-21, in which she will represent Radford University (Virginia) where she is Distinguished Professor of Art. - N.H.

More scoop: www.BritishWaterColors.com or (404) 352-3778

Putting You in the Driver's Seat

Debbie Forth will tell you that women pay $3,000 to $7,000 more for a car than a man does. They also buy more than half the cars in the country. And they typically go to a dealership unprepared and make a hasty, emotional purchase, because they want the process of buying a car to be over.

Forth, a former pre-med student, spent 14 years in car dealership management. She saw how the male sales force intimidated women, ridiculed them behind their backs and manipulated them into taking less for their trade and paying more for both new and used cars.

In March 2004, Forth opened Ladies First Automotive Consultants, a car-buying consultancy for women, in Smyrna. For a flat fee, she'll locate, road test, inspect and run CARFAX reports on a new or used car; negotiate cash purchase, financing or leasing options without the additional charges dealerships impose; and accompany a woman to the table to avoid unnecessary "games and
gimmicks." Forth also offers recommendations about makes and models to begin the search for a car.

She searches for new cars in as many as seven southeastern states and for used cars in a 100-mile radius of Atlanta. But her expertise has won her clients as far away as Dallas and Salt Lake City. Forth's greatest savings has been $23,530 for a woman in Dallas. An Orlando woman drove to Atlanta to save $16,000; the dealership paid for her hotel and had a gift basket waiting.

"Our average savings range from $6,000 to $7,000," says Forth.

She came up with the Ladies First concept during a five-year recovery from a car accident. Doctors told her she could never go back to the car business and 80-hour weeks. After learning to walk again, she took a big step and opened her business. - Georgia Dzurica

More scoop: www.ladiesfirstautomotive.com

---

Speaking at an economic conference in January, Lawrence H. Summers, president of Harvard University, set off a firestorm by suggesting that innate differences between the sexes could help explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers. He also questioned how great a role discrimination plays in keeping female scientists and engineers from advancing at elite universities.

---

A Booming - and Blooming - Business

Dale Gordon describes herself as the backbone of Atlanta's largest outdoor, free festival - the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. The 69th annual event takes place April 8-10 at Piedmont Park, highlighting a Kids' Village, Friday night block party, live entertainment, a Disc Dog Southern National event and arts and crafts. As owner of DG Publishing and Event Sponsorship and Taste of Atlanta, Inc., Gordon has her hand in several of Atlanta's most notable happenings.

After recognizing Atlanta's festivals' need for fundraising, she created her companies 11 years ago and has since done work for the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Music Midtown and several others.

As any entrepreneur knows, building trust and success with clients takes talent and passion. She says, "I want to be part of that legacy allowing Atlanta companies to come together for a good cause." Gordon's sales expertise and abilities to create and maintain partnerships with sponsors and the media have enabled her to raise the money to produce some of the city's most popular events. Gordon, who is always pushing to make events bigger and better, says, "This year the festival is adding a Friday night Grammy Block Party featuring Atlanta musicians." The multi-tasking dynamo's motto hangs on her office wall: "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." - Caroline Correll

More scoop: www.Dogwood.org.