Area residents helping others this weekend

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October 6, 2007

By Charles Oliver

Sunshine, clear skies and a lot of love.

That’s what people across Whitfield County shared Saturday, as several events were held that brought people together to have a good time and raise money for local charity.

Dalton’s Trinity United Methodist Church held its third annual Cross Roc Motorcycle Ministry.

“The ride will go around the Bypass south to Highway 41 then south to Resaca. They’ll take Highway 136 east to Talking Rock. They’ll come back up Highway 5 to Ellijay, then come back across Fort Mountain to (the church),” said Jim Garner, one of the ride’s organizers.

The entire 105-mile ride was expected to take about three hours, and a dinner was scheduled at the church Saturday evening at the completion of the ride.

Garner says the riders came from as far away as Jasper, Calhoun and Chickamauga.

“We’ve got people from all walks of life,” he said.

Riders and visitors were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items or make cash donations to help the Dalton Organizations of Churches United for People (DOC-UP).

DOC-UP is a non-denominational collective of local churches that helps people with food, rent, prescription drugs and utilities.

“It enables churches to help people who have a legitimate need. The applicants are closely screened,” Garner said.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Helping the Hurting kicked off its fifth annual miniature golf tournament at Dalton Falls Miniature Golf.

Helping the Hurting is a local nonprofit that provides free counseling for single mothers and abused women with children

“We help them recover from abuse. Some of them have been abused physically or emotionally. We have what we call divorce recovery. We also have anger management and substance abuse recovery. Pretty much any type of counseling that’s needed.” said Helping the Hurting’s Daniel Staats.

The tournament is a fundraiser for the group, and it has a $10 entry fee.

The lowest score wins an overnight trip to Pigeon Forge and with a stay at the Oak Tree Lodge.

The tournament continues Oct. 10-12 from 6 to 8 p.m. and concludes Saturday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon.

“You just need to show and say you are here for the tournament. They’ll take your money, send you out to play and keep your score,” Staats said.

For more information on Helping the Hurting, call (706) 517-4357.

Also on Saturday, Grove Level Baptist Church held its fourth annual Cruisers for Christ car, truck and motorcycle show.

“We use this as an opportunity to do outreach to the community, to let them know who we are and to find out who they are,” said Woody Belflower, a member of Grove Level’s Cruisers for Christ.

The event was also a fundraiser for the church’s mission work.

“The money we have made in the past has been used for Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans and Mississippi. We’ve used it here locally as well to reroof homes,” he said.

The show had more than 100 vehicles competing for prizes.

“Probably the longest distance anyone traveled was from Augusta,” Belflower said.