Community Corner

Hiram 5K To Aid Young Man

Dream Makers Youth Foundation seeks to help one of its assistant coaches realize his dream to drive on his own. A 5K race in Hiram on Saturday will raise money for the cause.

Chad Crews wants a car of his own that he can drive. But getting him in that car won’t be easy.

The 20-year-old Austell resident has arthrogryposis, a congenital disorder that causes a shortening of the joints and muscle weakness. Because of his condition, he needs special adaptors to allow him to drive a car. His parents—Reggie, a Smyrna police officer, and Michelle, a required stay-at-home mom—estimate the cost of a specially made vehicle and training to teach Crews how to drive at somewhere between $95,000 and $125,000.

Helping to raise those needed funds will be this Saturday’s , which is being held on the Silver Comet Trail at Homer Leggett Memorial Park in Hiram. The event is being put on by Dream Makers Youth Foundation, a nonprofit that provides educational and recreational opportunities for children with cognitive disabilities throughout metro Atlanta.

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Participants can register in the race for $25. The race is open to anyone who wants to hit the trail—runners, joggers, walkers, and even those bound to a wheelchair. A registration form is attached to this article.

“We are promoting fitness and health—as well as raising funds for Chad—in a motivating and exciting environment,” said Nikki Wilson, Dream Makers Youth Foundation’s founder and executive director, in a news release. “It really doesn’t matter if you are a beginning runner, an avid racer, or even in a wheelchair … this race for everyone.”

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Crews and his family has been involved with DMYF since he joined the organization’s soccer team in middle school. He serves as an assistant wheelchair basketball coach at the annual . Crews is currently a sophomore at.

Learn more about Crews’ story .


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