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Letter to the editor: Writer says we need new leaders
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:

I don’t find a lot of things that motivate me to initiate conversations on this page.

I keep telling myself it’s a site where CONCERNED CITIZENS in Bryan County, Georgia can express their concerns and perhaps find others in the community who have the same concerns. I started this as a NEIGHBORHOOD PAGE, because I consider ALL of Richmond Hill to be MY neighborhood.

We recently had a tremendous natural disaster cripple our community. We got so much rain that we had epic floods that nobody had ever been witness to.

Homes were made inhabitable. Appliances were destroyed, and food spoiled.

Richmond Hill had just encountered a NATURAL DISASTER, and when we requested, pleaded, and even begged for disaster relief, it wasn’t forthcoming.

I’ve seen on Facebook that the Richmond Hill Community Home had been made available as a disaster relief location.

Although there were and continue to be many volunteers who are willing to help their fellow neighbors, this one local realtor took the bull by the horns and looked it squarely in the eye before spearheading the commitment to help those Bryan County residents who were so desperately in need of aid and assistance.

Meredith Gibson has spent a tremendous amount of time and expended an unbelievable amount of energy to turn the Richmond Hill Community home from a storage area for cast away and seasonal items to a Clearing House and Central Issue Facility that distributes much needed everyday items that individuals and families lost in that flooding. 

When I arrived in Kuwait in 2005, along with my 150 fellow infantry soldiers went to the Central Issue Facility, where we received our protective vests with Kevlar plates, knee pads, elbow pads, along with other essential items like mosquito netting and sunglasses. We left that warehouse area with a duffel bag of equipment that we’d be using as we performed our combat mission. The disaster relief center would put that Army Central Issue Facility to shame. They have cleaning supplies, food, shoes and sneakers, baby formula, books and magazines, cases of water, and even some furniture. From my understanding, the relief supplies that were being passed out at the Community House were items that had been donated by businesses and individuals that live here in Bryan County. This was a TREMENDOUS EXAMPLE of neighbors helping neighbors.

When I expressed my sincere admiration for the relief activity that she seemed to be standing in a position of command and control, Meredith Gibson just said, volunteers had spent a lot of time transforming the Richmond Hill Community House into a facility dedicated to meeting the demands of a community that had been devastated by hurricane Debby. Meredith didn’t want to take credit for this though. To her, it was a community effort that she was glad she could be a part of.

OK... I’ll admit it... I was impressed. Meredith Gibson is looking to help do even more in our community.

Meredith recognizes that the failure to address the problem immediately was a failure of our elected leaders to have plans in place. It was the result of poor planning on the part of people previously in positions of authority and public trust. If we return these same lifetime legacy leaders back for another term in positions of authority, then...

WE THE PEOPLE HAVE LEARNED NOTHING!!!

We need new leaders! We need leaders who are willing to put the people first, and not their own selfish interests. We need leaders that live in our neighborhoods, go to our grocery stores, and see the same doctors, nurses and dentists that we do. We need ONE OF US to guide the direction of Bryan County.

Meredith Gibson has stood up and is asking for your support in returning the power and authority of Bryan County back into the hands of the residents who live here. Meredith isn’t running as a candidate for either of the major political parties. She’s reaching out to you, just as many of you reached out to her for items you needed during this disaster.

They say the chances of a write in candidate winning this election are very slim. It’s an uphill battle, but I’ve seen what can be done if Meredith Gibson puts her efforts into something. Go to the Richmond Community Home, and you can see to. In fact, go there and make a donation. It’s a way to lend a hand to your neighbors.

Christopher O’Brien, Richmond Hill, Georgia

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