Get your running shoes ready. The 4th Annual Stephens County Sheriff’s Bushbond will take place in Toccoa on September 24.
The Bushbond is part of the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office annual fundraiser for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes and is a 10k and 5k run followed by a brief awards ceremony.
This run is also a qualifier for the 2023 Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, according to a press release from the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office.
Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes is a nonprofit child care organization, for ages 4 to 21 or until they finish college, sponsored by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and through the generosity of private donors. Founded in 1960, GSYH was founded in 1960 and has five campuses across the state in Dalton, Hahira, Swainsboro, Lagrange, and Chatsworth.
According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley, the sheriff of each Georgia county is responsible for sponsoring such children into the youth homes, which helps to provide them with the security, care, and social skills they need to grow and prosper.
“Many of these have been abandoned or neglected by their own families and it is the sheriffs of each county that sponsor these children,” Shirley said.
He said they are not delinquents or troublemakers. These are children that have had parents arrested or pass away and there were no other relatives. They have nowhere to go.
According to Lt. Stephen Stewart, last year’s Bushbond raised more than $11,000 and they hope to raise more this year.
Anyone interested in participating in the event or who simply would like to donate can contact Lt. Stewart with the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 898-5853 or go by any of the Sheriff’s Office’s locations for more information.
You can register to run in the event on active.com,
