Senior Connections Raises $100,000 and Presents

2012 Community Connections Award to Jim Miller

Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Bank Honored at Fourth Annual ‘Senior Prom’

ATLANTA (June 12, 2012) – On Saturday, June 9, Senior Connections, the service organization that provides programs designed to help seniors “age in place” throughout Metro Atlanta and Middle Georgia, presented James B. Miller Jr. (Jim), Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Southern Corporation, with Senior Connections’ 2012 ‘Community Connections’ Award. This award, established in 2009, recognizes older adults who have been and continue to be outstanding business and community leaders and have given back significantly to the communities in which they live and work.

Upon receiving the award from his longtime friend Burrell Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County, Mr. Miller praised Senior Connections and the great work the organization has done in the area for decades. CEO Ellis also presented a proclamation, recognizing June 9, 2012 as “James B. Miller and Senior Connections Day in DeKalb County”.

Also on hand to congratulate Mr. Miller were:  U.S. Congressman John Lewis, representing Georgia’s Fifth District; U.S. Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia’s Fourth District; Liane Levetan, former Chair of DeKalb County and last year’s recipient of the ‘Community Connections’ Award; the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners; Mayor Deborah Jackson of Lithonia; Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson, Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis; Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd; and 300 other business, civic and elected officials.

In all, more than $100,000 was raised during Senior Connections’ fourth annual ‘Senior Prom’ at the Thalia N. Carlos Hellenic Center. In addition to the award ceremony, the evening also included a reception, silent auction, dinner and dancing to the band, Ready or Not.

Senior Connections’ CEO Debra Furtado capped the evening’s program by making the surprise announcement that donations made during the evening would be matched by Fidelity Bank in honor of Mr. Miller, thereby doubling each donation received.

“Jim Miller is a tireless champion of Senior Connections’ mission to provide essential home and community-based services that allow seniors to stay in their own homes as long as possible,” notes Furtado. “We are lucky to have him as our champion, as are the numerous other nonprofit and academic institutions that have benefitted from his generosity over the years.”

Prom sponsors included Georgia Natural Gas, Humana, AT&T, Choate Construction, Emory Alliance Credit Union, Shepherd Construction Company and A.S. Turner and Sons.

From left: Debra Furtado, CEO of Senior Connections, Jim Miller, CEO and Chairman of Fidelity Southern Corporation, Burrell Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County.

Photo credit: Teryl Jackson