JONES COUNTY, Ga. — 72-year-old Evelyn Hawthorne was born and raised here in Haddock, Georgia. She says she grew up in a very small community, and this year, she wanted to give back to the county that raised her.
With Christmas just days away, Hawthorne had a few stops to make in what she calls her 'holiday extravaganza.'
"This is just a small way of saying we're thinking about them, we love them, and we want them to keep the faith and keep looking up," she says.
So the first stop brought her to the Jones County jail and sheriff's office, where inmates got socks and cards, and the deputies got cake.
"Well, the socks because we know that's something everyone can use all the time," says Hawthorne.
Then, it was off to the Autumn Lane Health and Rehab Center, but these two places mean more to her than just giving out gifts.
"Inmates, because I have a certain compassion for troubled youth, particularly because I got shot by a troubled youth many years ago," she says.
Hawthorne says 42 years ago at the age of 30, she was accidentally shot by a young man in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. The shooting left her in the hospital for one year, and then a rehab facility followed.
Now, over four decades later, Hawthorne sees it as her life mission to help, and as she puts it, not be handicapped, but "handicap-able." A wheelchair and trips for dialysis three days a week aren't about to slow her down.
"I have God's favor on my life, and whatever it is He has for me to do, 'til my last breath, I will do that," she says.
Hawthorne says she hopes to do this again next year.
Then, she's thinking even bigger. Her next project is to adopt a village in Africa.
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