2008 Atlanta Georgia

July 10, 11 & 12, 2008

This year’s Ponditat for Humanity recipients are:

"Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite." 

The Atlanta Koi club met at member Harvey Siskin's pond on October 14, 2007 for their monthly meeting.  During the executive meeting, they discussed an email received from a parent of a cancer patient at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

Due to the extent of this project, the club officers realized that it was beyond their means and requested advice from Dave and Gloria Jones, owners of The Pond Professional, a sponsor of the Atlanta Koi Club and in attendance.  With interest in working on this pond, both the club and the Joneses did a little more investigation and got The Pond Professional in touch with the Facilities Director at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.  Upon inspection of the pond and considering the other ponds that had been nominated for this year's Ponditat For Humanity, it was put into the list of candidates of the IPPCA's Ponditat category and  as a result was picked as this year's recipient.

Any time a pond is nominated for this project, several things have to be considered such as:

A local contractor must be willing to work with the IPPCA in all aspects including but not limited to coordinating supplies, meals, and  lodging.  This contractor must be willing to do all this on a volunteer basis and not request reimbursement of any kind for his/her time or his/her company's time. 

Some other ponds that were considered were in Colorado, but due to logistical issues involved in those projects, they were eliminated.

Here are a few pictures of the pond at the time of initial inspection.

This is the memory bridge in celebration of the life of Brian Manthe.  IPPCA will do their best to preserve and repair the bridge which has lost part of the handrail on the left side.

This pond is located just off Peachtree Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry Roads, just off I285 in Atlanta.  Both of these roads are very busy and will serve as a challenge to the contractors to bring in the necessary supplies.  Other challenges involved in this project is the limited space in the court yard area and tight access.

The IPPCA has invited Mr. Stewart Swartz and his family to be there on Saturday to plug the pump in to bring the pond to life.  Mr. Swartz was the gentleman that emailed the Atlanta Koi Club for help on this pond originally.

If you are up for the challenge and are willing to donate your time, contact the IPPCA at info@ippca.com and get your name in.  A limited number of contractors will be allowed on this project.  If you are unable to contribute as a volunteer, all donations can be sent to the IPPCA, marked "Ponditat Donation".