“Everyone can be a winner at something” is the motto of the Winner’s Club of Calhoun. With the help of the Mohawk Carpet Foundation, the Winner’s Club is working to further the education of youth in Gordon County and to make every child a winner.

Mohawk recently helped the Winner’s Club purchase new computers and software for the “Winner’s Computer and Tutoring Lab.” The computers will be used to raise the educational level of the young people that the Winner’s Club serves.

“Mohawk is delighted to support worthwhile organizations like the Winner’s Club because they contribute to the quality of life in the communities where our employees live and work,” said Robert Webb, Mohawk’s senior director of people and performance.

Webb added that the Winner’s Club has a long history of delivering needed services in the Calhoun/Gordon County community and of operating in a fiscally conservative manner.

“The Winner’s Club is a good steward of charitable donations,” Webb said. “We know that they use the funds wisely and well.”

According to Alan Robertson, Executive Director of the Winner’s Club, developing a new computer lab for club members is a necessity. Despite the pro bono efforts of several computer specialists, the existing computers at the Winner’s Club are rapidly becoming obsolete and can no longer meet student demand.

“There is normally a waiting line at the computers,” said Robertson.

He added that of the 64 members of the Winner’s Club, only 10 of them had access to computers at home.

“A lot of our kids don’t have the ability to do these things at home,” said Sam Thomas, Treasurer of the Winner’s Club. “We’re trying to help kids become mainstream so they don’t feel left out in class.”

With the new computer lab, Robertson said that club members will be able to compete on a more even playing field with other students.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 65.9 percent of the 28,490 adults in Gordon County 25 years of age and older are high school graduates or have earned graduation equivalency diplomas. The Winner’s Club hopes that the new computer lab will help increase the rate of high school completion for the youth it serves by 10 percentage points above the county average within the next five years.

“We try to help them from a young age,” said Thomas. “A lot of times, all kids need is a bit of encouragement and a boost of self-esteem.”

Established in 1969, the Winner’s Club serves disadvantaged and at-risk children and youth 21 years of age and younger, many of whom have mental, physical or emotional challenges. Some are at risk because of difficult situations at home.

For more information on how to donate or volunteer, contact the Winner’s Club at (706) 629-9074 or e-mail Alan Robertson at alanrobertson@comcast.net.