WINDER, Ga. – A blanket, a toothbrush, a bag to hold your belongings – these are all simple things many people might take for granted.

One organization in Winder is making sure children of all ages have those basic needs met, and a little extra, particularly children experiencing trauma or a crisis.

“We all need that comfort. No matter how old we are. When trauma or crisis knocks on our door, a stuffed animal, a blanket can go a long way, no matter the age,” Misty Manus said.

Manus is the executive director of Adventure Bags. The nonprofit provides backpacks filled with comfort items, hygiene products, books, and more for children in need. Manus, a former foster parent, started with the organization as a volunteer.

“That’s actually how I got involved with Adventure Bags was through making donations of stuffed animals. And so I fell in love with their mission,” Manus said.

That mission started back in 2011. Tracey McMahon, the chairman of the board for the organization, was called to escort three children back to Georgia from Los Angeles for her job at the Department of Family and Children Services.

“All their stuff that they had – whatever they had with them when they went to Los Angeles was all in individual black trash bags,” she said.

McMahon helped get each child a backpack and filled it with all the essentials to go back home. She saw the difference those bags made for the kids.

“I saw such a proud happy moment. These kids had been through so much instability and whatever else was going on in their little lives, and she was proud to walk through the airport,” McMahon said.

She told her mom, Debbie Gori, about it, and she started Adventure Bags. It was her passion that she made sure was carried on.

“Before she passed away she said ‘You and Misty have got to keep this going,’” McMahon said.

And they have. Together with a small team of volunteers and help from big partners including PetSmart and Bombas, they have served more than 51,000 children across every county in the state.

“So we partner with agencies across the state of Georgia –  agencies such as DFACS, first responders, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, agencies that provide a direct service to children in crisis,” Manus said.

This year they expanded even more, sending backpacks to Georgia children impacted by Hurricane Helene. When tragedy struck at home, they had bags for the students at Apalachee High School.

“To be able to see their reaction – those kids pulling out those blankets and wrapping them around them or pulling out those stuffed animals and just hugging them,” Manus said.

Each bag is stuffed with care and typically inspected by Linda Morrison, the head volunteer.

“I’m kind of picky about the bags and the way that they get packed. So we always want to make sure that the books go in first so the child has a flat surface against their back, and the stuffed animal goes in last because that’s the first thing we want them to see,” Morrison said.

It’s a hug from a team who is thinking of every child and making sure they have what they need during some of the most difficult times, and zipped up with a little extra love.

“It just warms your heart to see that you are making a difference,” Manus said.

And their efforts have grown so much. Adventure Bags has outgrown its current space. The nonprofit is now hoping to move into what they call its forever home, with enough room to store all of the goods to fill even more bags in the future. If you want to learn more about their organization or how you can get involved, you can visit their website here.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – President-elect Donald Trump has promised a crackdown at the southern border with a widespread deportation plan.

Gigi Pedereza is the director of the Latino Community Foundation of Georgia. She said right now there is a lot of uncertainty from the Latino community in Georgia. Some people are fearful of the plan, while others doubt it will come to fruition.

“There is a lot of fear from some folks and some other folks think nothing is going to happen You have these competing thoughts,” Pedereza said. “What we know is that he has run on this platform. He’s the president-elect and we are expecting there will be changes in immigration. We don’t know how sweeping, how fast, and how that will be implemented, but at this point, it is very concerning. We have already seen hate crimes, we’ve seen physical attacks, and we know folks have received threatening text messages.”

Most of Georgia’s police departments and sheriff’s offices don’t have the power to enforce federal immigration laws.

According to the Georgia Sheriff’s Association (GSA), only a handful of Georgia law enforcement agencies are a part of the 287(g) Program, which can deputize state officers to act as federal immigration agents.

Law enforcement can detain an illegal immigrant if they commit a crime, but the GSA said that often doesn’t lead to deportation.

Last year, the General Assembly passed the Track Act, which requires county jails to report the immigration status of every inmate.

The GSA said despite the mandatory reporting, the majority of immigrants are released after serving their sentences before they can be taken into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Pedereza said she’s working with churches and schools to make sure people in the immigrant community are aware of their legal rights.

“I’ve been in a couple of meetings where some of the administrators are concerned about already seeing drops in attendance from children because the parents are afraid, because the kids, when they are in high school, they are afraid of going to school, coming back, and not finding their parents,” said Pedereza.

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ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is headed to the College Football Playoffs, but the Bulldogs will be doing so without its Ray Guy Award finalist punter Brett Thorson. The junior out of Melbourne, Australia and the ProKick program suffered a knee injury in UGA’s win over Texas Saturday night while covering one of his kicks. In pursuit of Texas returner Silas Bolden on a 26-yard third-quarter return, Thorson went down holding his left leg. He was carted to the locker room and returned to the sidelines on crutches later.

Thorson, alongside Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, underwent an MRI on Sunday morning. Monday, Georgia shared an official statement with the latest on each, stating that Thorson “sustained a knee injury to his non-kicking leg’ that will require a season-ending surgery. No specifics were shared as to what the knee injury was.

“Carson and Brett are both fierce competitors and extremely hard workers,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I’m confident they will attack their rehab with the same determination they exhibit in their daily habits. We will be here to support them every step of the way.”

Without Thorson available, Georgia sent out Duke graduate transfer Charlie Ham for the only time the Bulldogs lined up to punt the rest of the game. That, of course, resulted in a fake from the UGA 30-yard line on 4th & 5 where offensive lineman Drew Bobo flipped to Arian Smith for a 9-yard gain and a first down conversion. Georgia also has freshman Drew Miller, the nation’s No. 1 punter from the Class of 2024, and walk-on junior Noah Jones available at the position.

Asked about the backup options, Smart clarified that Miller is the backup and is expected to be the Bulldogs’ top option when they take the field for the College Football Playoffs January 1st in New Orleans.

“Drew (Miller), that’s the kid we signed last year. He would be our punter, and we think he’s really talented, and he does a great job,” Smart said. “He’s worked really hard to get the opportunity, and he punts every day in practice and does a tremendous job. He’s a very highly recruited kid who we’ve got a lot of confidence in.”

On the season, Thorson has punted 42 times for a total of 1,998 yards, averaging 47.57 yards per punt. Just five of those 42 have gone into the end zone for touchbacks with 22 being downed inside the 20.

Thorson made waves off the field earlier this season with a video that went viral from Georgia Football’s social media accounts after the punter had a touchdown saving tackle against Tennessee. According to the Australian, it was his head coach’s idea as a fun way to get a message across to the team while also showcasing the personality of the punter.

“He’s just a funny guy. The players really enjoy him and like him,” Smart said when asked about Thorson and the video. “We thought it was a good opportunity for him to take advantage of what he did. We’ve struggled to tackle for whatever reason. We haven’t tackled well, so we’re searching for any answer we can. We wanted to drive that home to them that he did it.”

As far as Thorson’s stance on the tackle, it’s actually not one of his prouder moments. He understands that because he was called upon as a punter to make a stop, something went wrong for his team in coverage. That starts with him kicking it, and ended with him making a play.

“Because we had a punt return, it’s definitely a weird thing to celebrate. I think the video comes out and we look at it light hearted, but obviously, it’s not a good thing,” Thorson said, ranking where the tackle goes on his list of career accomplishments. “I do feel iffy about getting around it and stuff like that. Obviously, the touchdown two and a half years ago definitely probably goes below that. But yeah, no. It’s been our second biggest return since I’ve been here. So not quite something I’m happy about. But I probably owed the boys for two and a half years of work. So I was glad I could help out just once.” 

Between that touchdown given up against Mississippi State over two years ago and the long return against Tennessee, Georgia had allowed just five returns for a total of -4 yards. The Bulldogs went the entire 2023 season without allowing a return and 72 straight punts without a return for positive yardage.

Of Thorson’s 76 punts in between, 40 were either fair caught, downed or went out of bounds at or inside the 20 yard line including 17 at or inside the 10. His average punt traveled 45.9 yards while only six went for touchbacks, so there’s more than just his tackling ability that’s impressive about Thorson.

“I think everything that goes into it, to start with the coaching and the game plan. They give us a good look during the week and come up with a good plan for who we’re playing against. Then you’ve got to start with the snap. I can’t punt the ball if I don’t get a good snap, so I feel like this year Beau’s been exceptional. And then the protection and the coverage. So you have Arian and Dom and whoever else has been out there, they’ve been elite,” Thorson said. “I can’t take too much credit because without any of these other pieces that I just mentioned, it can’t happen. And it has lasted about two-and-a-half years, so a lot of people have played into that. A lot of different guys, a lot of different protection, a lot of different looks. So there’s a whole team involved in that. That’s not just a punting thing.”

Georgia takes on the winner of Notre Dame and Indiana, the seventh and tenth seeded teams respectively, in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, set for an 8:45 p.m. ET kickoff on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.