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Liberty County to walk for homeless
Good Friday Walk 2015
A steady stream of people walks along Gen. Stewart Way during the 2015 Good Friday Walk for Shelter. - photo by Courier file photo

For the fifth year in a row, the Liberty County Homeless Coalition is sponsoring the Good Friday Run/Walk for Shelter this Friday.

The 7K route — about 4½ miles — will start and end at Victory Assembly of God on Gen. Stewart Way in Hinesville.

The registration for the event starts at 11 a.m., and walkers can pledge money for each mile they walk. They can also bring nonperishable food items for local food pantries.

Deacon Chad Chaffee, the chairman of the Run/Walk for Shelter, said he hopes students who are off Friday will participate.

There is no registration fee, Chaffee said, so the organizers just want people to come out to walk.

Last year, the event "collected about $10,000,"Chaffee said.

"Our goal is to try to get about $12,000 to $13,000 this year."

The money is given to organizations that work with the homeless, he added.

The walk will start at noon and end by 2:30 p.m. The significance of the noon start stems from the significance of the day and that most of the organizers are local faith leaders.

"Twelve o’clock on Good Friday is when our Lord was nailed to the cross," Chaffee said.

"And so we’re trying to tie it in to the — we’re walking to remind about what he did for us, what he (is) doing for us. Remind about we have a homeless problem and we want to do something about it."

The food and money raised by the Liberty County Homeless Coalition has gone toward local programs and organizations such as the Kirk Healing Center for the Homeless, Manna House of Liberty County, and Gabriel’s House, Chaffee said.

Gabriel’s House in Hinesville is a home for foster children.

Chaffee said he feels they are homeless because "they’re taken away from their parents for one reason or another."

"And so we need to be able to let them know that we care about them," he said.

Over the past five years, the event has brought together several homeless organizations.

"The program has also opened up other organizations that wanted to do something, but they didn’t know how," Chaffee said.

"So now they’ve find out through the Good Friday Walk there is a coalition that brings everybody together with one thing in mind — that is to take care of the homeless," he said.

"I believe that the Good Friday Walk has very quietly gone out on these last five years and let people know that there is a sincere, honest program and honest people, sincere people, that really care about doing something for the homeless," Chaffee said.

For more information, call Chaffee at 912-369-5378 or email him at gfw
liberty@gmail.com.

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