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President and Founder of the Abbie DeLoach Foundation Jimmy DeLoach is in the studio for today’s episode of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio. Joined by co-hosts Carol Morgan and Todd Schnick, the group discusses how the Abbie DeLoach Foundation began, who it supports and how to get involved on this Around Atlanta segment of Radio.
Jimmy DeLoach grew up in Garden City, Georgia and graduated from The University of Georgia (UGA) and Georgia State University (GSU). While attending UGA, DeLoach played football and continued his athletic career after graduation as a coach at GSU. While in this position, he helped lead his team to two 1-AA National Football Championships. After coaching, DeLoach went into business with his brother for 35 years, running Tidewater Landscape in Savannah.
DeLoach had two children, Abbie and Annie. Annie is currently 25 and a physician’s assistant at Mercer University in Atlanta. In 2015, DeLoach’s youngest daughter Annie called him with the tragic news of a seven-vehicle wreck that caused the deaths of five nursing students. One of the lost was 21-year-old Abbie Lorene DeLoach, Jimmy DeLoach’s oldest daughter.
Abbie DeLoach would have been on the frontlines today if it were not for her tragic passing. April 22, 2015, was meant to be a day that five Georgia Southern nursing students would long remember, as they completed their clinical rotations, but due to a delay on I-16, it became a monumental day that included a horrific tragedy. In response, the Abbie DeLoach Foundation was created in April 2016.
Now moving into the sixth anniversary of Abbie’s passing, the Abbie DeLoach Foundation continues to support nursing students, student athletes and many others. Nearly $1 million has been presented in scholarships and grants since the foundation’s inception in 2016, and the next class of scholarship recipients will be announced this April. The foundation accepts donations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is headquartered in Savannah.
“The vision of the Abbie DeLoach Foundation was based on a promise that I made to myself when I was an assistant coach in 1984 at GSU,” said DeLoach. “I saw how much giving a scholarship can change a person, giving the opportunity to be exposed to a different environment. An environment of higher education, of hope, of you can be anything you want to be in life if you were willing to compete and work hard. After Abbie’s tragic passing, I knew I had to find a way to open door for students who wanted a better future.”
The foundation had its first class of scholarship recipients in 2017 with 6 students. In 2020, the scholarship recipient class grew to 22 students. The Abbie DeLoach Foundation contributed almost $1 million to organizations that have become partners, including GSU, Savannah State University and UGA. Scholarships go to nursing students, student athletes and mission trips.
The foundation was built on three personalities of what Abbie represented: competitiveness in sports, compassion for people who need medical attention and a love for Jesus Christ. Through these pillars, the organization has sent nurses on medical mission trips to various parts of the world, encouraged athletes to work hard year-round and much more.
“She [Abbie] was a competitor in the classroom, in sports and with friends,” said DeLoach. “Abbie had an attitude of ‘you eat 7 cookies, I can eat 10; you made a 84 on an exam, I can make a 92.’ She knew her strengths and weakness within her talents. She was never afraid to tell you the truth. Abbie knew Jesus Christ as her Lord. She knew there was a specific plan for her life, and she wanted to live it out daily.”
Due to the implications of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, several aspects of the organization adapted over the past year. The annual scholarship luncheon in April is now virtual. The organization also had two trips planned for medical missions to Zimbabwe and Ecuador but those will be canceled. Hopefully, these trips can be rescheduled in the future after it is safe to travel again.
Although many changes have ensued, the members of the Abbie DeLoach Foundation are working harder than ever to help students. The organization is working with the Georgia Nurses Association to get connected with the different medical colleges and find out their future needs and expectations. The organization is looking to provide future opportunities for students who want to become nurses in Georgia, as many of them may end up helping patients with COVID-19 and much more.
Nursing students that wish to apply to the Abbie DeLoach Foundation scholarship should visit www.AbbieDeLoachFoundation.com and click on “Apply for Scholarships.” There is a list of organizations, schools and colleges that the foundation offers financial aid to. Anyone can also visit the website to donate to the foundation.
To learn more about the Abbie DeLoach Foundation and how to get involved, listen to the full interview above.
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Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee, License #22564. NMLS ID #6606. Subject to borrower and property qualifications. Not all applicants will qualify. New American Funding and the Abbie DeLoach Foundation are not associated. Click here to view the terms and conditions of products mentioned during the show. Corporate office 14511 Myford Rd., Suite 100, Tustin, CA 92780. Phone: (800) 450-2010. (March/2021)
New American Funding is a family-owned mortgage lender with a servicing portfolio of over 123,000 loans for $30.4 billion, 198 branches, and about 3,100 employees. The company offers several niche loan products and has made Inc. 5000’s list of Fastest-Growing Companies in America six times. It has a state-of-the-art career training facility and develops innovative technology, including the GoGo LO mobile application. For more information, visit www.branch.newamericanfunding.com/Atlanta.
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