Around 25,000 Georgians will receive their last unemployment check, or direct deposit, this week, following the expiration of the federal government's extended unemployment benefits.

The state of Georgia provides up to 26 weeks of standard unemployment benefits, while five various federal extensions allow unemployed workers to receive up to an additional 73 week of unemployment.

As Congress debates whether to renew the unemployment extensions, a total of 84,400 Georgians are expected to lose unemployment benefits by the end of 2010, according to the U.S. labor department.

The state does not track how many of those Georgians live in Newton County. The News is working on a story about unemployment benefits and needs your help.

If you receive unemployment benefits, we'd like to talk to you about how important that money is to you and what your employment future looks like.

If you or someone you know is set to lose their extended benefits this month, we'd like to hear from you about what your future plans.

Please contact Reporter Gabe Khouli by phone at 678-750-5009 or by e-mail at gkhouli@covnews.com. Thank you for helping make The Covington News the best local newspaper it can be.