AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The CSRA Death Cafe hosted a gathering Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta on Walton Way.

Death Cafes began as a way to increase awareness about death and encourage people to make the most of their lives. Since 2011, more than 24,000 Death Cafes have been held in 97 countries.

Brenda Ferguson, an attendee at the CSRA Death Cafe, spoke about how people approach death differently.

“I think death is different for everyone, you know, but accepting people where they are and helping them through wherever they are,” Ferguson said. “And if we need to get them to understand some things, but I can never say your way is wrong, because it’s different for everyone.”

Abigail Danns, also an attendee, said many people avoid the topic altogether.

“From my experience, a lot of us kind of live in denial,” Danns said. “No one wants to plan the funeral. That’ll jinx it. No one wants to just kind of tiptoe around the topic when really we all have to do it. So we might as well kind of just explore those thoughts, have the conversations, and better yet, get prepared.”

Organizers said they will host another Death Cafe on Aug. 30 at 4 p.m.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta CSRA Habitat for Humanity hosted its third annual Build the Band benefit Saturday at Miller Theater, with Morning Mix’s Cliff Bennett serving as host.

Audience members were able to vote on the best performance of the evening.

Bernadette Kelliher, CEO of Augusta CSRA Habitat for Humanity, said the event aims to match last year’s fundraising total.

“Well, when you stay and watch it, you’re going to see exactly what makes it, but it’s the talent. It’s the celebrating local. It’s the getting the word out. It’s the past years where we raised over $100,000 last year. If we can do the same this year, we’re going to put those years together, and we’re going to build the house the band built. And we are so excited about that,” Kelliher said.

The event came as Habitat for Humanity broke ground on its 88th home on Friday, marking 40 years of service to the community.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The YMCA held a grocery drive-through giveaway Saturday at its Claussen Road location in Augusta.

The YMCA said it handed out groceries to around 150 families in the first hour of the event.

The organization also serves around 1,200 children in the area through its summer programs.

Cheryl Wirt, CFO of YMCA Augusta, said the need has increased this summer as the organization expands its reach into rural areas.

“During the summer, we will get food boxes from Golden Harvest for families with kids, and we take that out to the communities,” Wirt said. “We go as far as Washington-Wilkes and Warren and Thomson. We will get on our feeding vans and get those boxes out to the communities, get families to fill out a form, and they get a box of food.”