Mount Juliet: The Wilson County Democratic Women recently presented a book to the Mount Juliet Library This is a community project that donates a book each year to each of the three Wilson County Libraries.

The book presented is entitled Giving, How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton. It was presented in honor of Mary Katherine Graves, a lifelong resident of Wilson County. Ms. Graves has long been a community activist for many years. She has served as the President of the AARP of Wilson County, MJ Business and Professional Women's Club and Home Demonstration Club. She also served for several years on the Senior Citizens Board of Directors. Ms Graves has been an active member of the Democratic Party. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Wilson County Democratic Party and a long time member of the Wilson County Democratic Women.

The Democratic Women use this project to honor current and past Democratic Women and add to the Wilson County Libraries selection of books.

The Wilson County Democratic Women meet the second Tuesday of the month at the Fair Grounds in Lebanon. For more information, contact Delana Patterson at 449-6618.

Mount Juliet: The Wilson County Democratic Women are pleased to report that the recent Book Fair/Yard Sale to benefit the MJ Help Center raised $3000 this year. This brings the total raised over the 5 years to almost $15,000. The sale this year included many large items of furniture and hundreds of books. All the left over items were donated to Goodwill who in turn will give the Help Center vouchers to give to individuals needing clothing and other items that the Help Center does not provide.

"We are so grateful for this annual benefit that the Democratic Women sponsor. Not only are we seeing an increase in the need in our community during these difficult economic times, but the annual Post Office food drive only brought in 7500 pounds of food this year instead of the 15,000 pounds in recent years. This money will be put to good use for those in our community who need a helping hand," said Mary Bacon, President of the Board of the MJ Help Center.

"This was a real community effort," said Delana Patterson, President of the Wilson County Democratic Women. "We had so many generous people give us books and other items to sell and then many came and shopped with us. We want to thank the community for coming out in the stormy and wet weather."

"I want to thank all the volunteers from the Democratic Party who helped and the many union volunteers who did the heavy lifting. The unions represented were the United Steel Workers, Transportation Workers and Sheet Metal Workers. We could not have done this without their help," said Charlene Foutch, Chair of the benefit.

The Celebration Lutheran Church allowed the sale to be held on their property and lent their tables to use. The large tent used in the sale was provided by Dixie Taylor-Huff. Henderson's Sign Company of Mount Juliet provided the updated lettering on the banner and donated the oversize presentation check.

These generous donations were greatly appreciated and key to making the sale a success.

The MJ Help Center has been serving the Mt. Juliet community since 1983. It primarily provides food to families who are not able to survive without this assistance. They work closely with the churches in the community to make this a real community effort. They also benefit from the donations made to the Second Harvest food bank, the annual Post Office food drive and many businesses in the area that make donations of food. In addition, working with other organizations some monies are provided to assist with necessary expenses such as water, electricity and gas.

The director Carolyn Duggan says that they can "always use donations of staples like cereal, pasta and sauce, sugar and flour, especially as the annual Post Office food drive donations were half of last year's donations." The Help Center is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 1 pm. To contact them call 754-HELP.

The Wilson County Democratic Women meet the second Tuesday each month at the Fairgrounds in Lebanon in the Gentry Building at 6:30 pm.

Everyone is invited to attend. For more information about the Wilson County Democratic Women, contact Delana Patterson at 449-6618.