Building stronger community is the overarching goal of the inaugural Courageous Challenge, coming to the Southern Crescent this summer.
“Our goal is to make the communities of Coweta and Fayette County the strongest in the state; if not the nation when it comes to mental health, outreach to veterans, and community relations with local law enforcement,” said event organizer Kenneth Koon.
“Recent tragic events in Dallas gives further credence to the urgent need for creating events which build a positive culture of community health.” added Koon, a U.S. Army Reserve chaplain as well as a chaplain with the Peachtree City Police Department.
The Courageous Challenge kickoff will take place Saturday, Sept. 3, in Peachtree City. Challenge participants will have 20 minutes to do as many push-ups as they can. Individual awards will be given for males and females in various age groups. Teams of 5 to 10 participants are also encouraged to participate and one team award will be given for the most push-ups contributed during this inaugural event.
Local gyms are encouraged to enter teams with the best team winning the Courageous Challenge Battle of the Gyms Trophy. The local Girl Scouts of Peachtree City will serve as counters for each participant.
Event registration is now taking place. All registered participants will receive a Courageous Challenge T-shirt. Participants are encouraged to raise sponsors with a 25 cent per push-up challenge pledge. Proceeds help underwrite the work of Armed Forces Mission (AFM), a local nonprofit focused on the reduction of veteran suicide and all at risk within the Coweta-Fayette community.
Since inception in 2012 AFM has trained more than 5,000 individuals across the nation in suicide intervention. AFM’s primary program is the I Will Intervene Challenge one and two day intervention workshops. These workshops provide free POST credit training for law enforcement and individuals from all walks of life are encouraged to take the training which equips participants with first aid suicide intervention skills to help those at risk. In 2015 Koon was involved in more than 151 successful suicide interventions and many of those trained have also reported stories of lives saved.
The Courageous Challenge is taking place in conjunction with National Suicide Prevention Month. To register for the event or sponsor a participant visit CourageousChallenge.com. Gym owners visit BattleoftheGyms.com to register your team.
