Albany Tech Foundation to ‘roast’ Karla Heath-Sands

ALBANY – Every now and then, you have to step up to the plate and take one for the team. Friday night at Albany Technical College, that task falls on Karla Heath Sands at the Albany Tech Foundation’s 14th annual celebrity “roast.”

The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. with a silent auction. The roast will begin at 7 p.m. in the college’s Kirkland Conference Center.

“Roasters” for this year’s event include Dougherty State Court Judge Victoria Darrisaw, Marine Corps Logistics Command retiree Michelle Polk, WALB-TV on-air personality Cade Fowler, retired Lee County School System employee Sandra Parker and WALB meteorologist Yolanda Amadeo.

The roast is one of ATC’s largest annual fundraising events.

Heath-Sands has been at home on stage for most of her life. The Brunswick native graduated in 1984 from Macon’s Mercer University, where she performed with the Mercer Singers. She has been a participant in the Miss America Pageant system where, as Miss Macon, she finished as fourth runner-up in the Miss Georgia competition in 1982 and second runner-up as Miss Brunswick-Golden Isles in 1985.

Beginning her television career as a weathercaster and community service director at WMAZ-TV in Macon, Heath- Sands now co-anchors WALB’s “Today In Georgia” show and the station’s noon news. She previously was selected as the Georgia Association of Broadcasters’ “GABBY” winner for Best On-Air Personality. She was also King Day “Dream Award” recipient in 2011 and was recognized by the 100 Black Men of Albany for outstanding service in the media field in 1999.

Having emceed numerous pageants and events, Heath-Sands has also served as a judge for Miss Georgia preliminaries and Junior Miss programs in Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. She is married to Judge W. Louis Sands and is the mother of two: Billye L. Sands and David H. Sands.

The Albany Tech Foundation Inc. was established in 1987 to support the college, its programs and activities. As a 501 (C)3 nonprofit organization, the Foundation serves as the conduit through which cash, equipment and property donations pass from donors to the college. The operations of the Foundation are guided by a board of trustees consisting of community leaders from throughout Albany Tech’s seven-county service delivery area.

All proceeds from Friday’s Roast will benefit Albany Tech students in need of financial assistance through the Albany Tech Foundation.