BB&T Lighthouse Project Makes Donation to
Willowbrooke at Tanner Program

Local BB&T branches have come together through the BB&T Lighthouse Project to make a donation to Willowbrooke at Tanner’s Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP). The Lighthouse is a symbol of stability and safety. The Lighthouse Project, created by BB&T President and Chief Executive Officer, Kelly King, was developed to demonstrate the commitment of BB&T branches to their local communities. The BB&T corporate office contributed funds to each branch and let the local branches designate the funds to local charities.

Four BB&T branches in the west Georgia area including two in Carrollton, one in Villa Rica and one in Bowdon made a decision to support Willowbrooke at Tanner’s Relatives as Parents Program by making a donation. RAPP provides mental health counseling and classes to relatives who are serving as a parent to a child, often due to death, incarceration or otherwise incapacitation of the child’s natural parents.

“Our employees decided to make a contribution to organizations within the west Georgia area that help children with a disrupted home life,” said Tammy Hughes, Senior Vice President, West Georgia Area BB&T. “We hope that our donation through the Lighthouse Project will help us to partner with community organizations to make our community a better place to live.”

Often a grandparent takes custody of a child and the generation gap creates communication issues. Classes through RAPP focus on topics to help grandparents or other caregivers have healthy and productive relationships with their children. The class topics are guided by information that caregivers need such as custody issues, working with school counselors, mental illnesses affecting their child such as ADHD, and modern issues such as cell phone usage, texting and Internet monitoring.

 “I cannot say enough about BB&T and the donation that they have made to RAPP. It is very inspiring to see the sacrifices that these relatives have made for their children. They value the knowledge that they receive through RAPP - they are going to be as grateful for donation as we are,” said Cameron Mount, therapist, Willowbrooke at Tanner.

Because of generous donations from the community, RAPP is offered as a free service to families. The RAPP program runs the second Saturday of each month from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica. For more information on RAPP call 770.836.8766.

Tanner Medical Foundation is a not-for-profit organization supporting Tanner Health System. Contributions to the foundation support the programs and services provided for the residents of west Georgia and east Alabama by Tanner Health System. For more information, call 770.836.9871.