On December 6, Macon-Bibb County will take gifts and supplies donated as part of the annual Mayors’ & Commissioners’ Motorcade to the patients of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. The bus and donations will leave from Government Center (700 Poplar Street) at 11:00 a.m., and media are invited to take video and pictures and interview volunteers beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Central State Hospital will hold a ceremony for all the participating cities at 1:30 p.m. The Statewide Chair for this year’s Motorcade, City of Dublin Mayor Phil Best, will be in attendance. (Click here for a bio of Mayor Best.) This year’s local chair is District 9 Commissioner Al Tillman, and students in the Macon-Bibb County Youth Commission undertook this as one of their service projects. The local group of volunteers will also be recognized at the Macon-Bibb County Commission Meeting that evening at 6:00 p.m.
About the Motorcade*
The Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) began the Mayors’ Christmas Motorcade in 1959 at the request of then-Governor Ernest Vandiver as a way of providing holiday gifts for the patients of Georgia’s mental health and retardation hospitals. The program is also aimed at raising the awareness of the needs of Georgia’s mental hospitals.
There are currently five regional mental health hospitals in the state, serving some 3,200 Georgians. Many of these clients have lived in the hospital facility for much of their lives and receive little, if any, support from their families. Without the Mayors’ Christmas Motorcade, the staff at these hospitals have told us, many of their clients would not receive a gift for the holidays.
The Christmas spirit demonstrated by cities during the Motorcade extends beyond the holiday season. Any gifts not handed out during Christmas are used for client birthdays or given to newly arrived clients, who may need many of the items. In this way, cities help the hospitals celebrate special occasions year-round and help the hospitals meet the needs of their clients.
*Source: Georgia Municipal Association