THOMASVILLE — A youth-led service project has hit the ball over the net in terms of mission success.

Thomas County Central High School Chick-fil-A Leader Academy recently hosted its second annual Dodgeball Tournament as part of its end-of-year Impact Project, with proceeds benefitting a local service organization. This year’s recipient is Fountain of Life Rescue, which soon will be opening a local shelter for homeless individuals. 

“This project was an excellent example of how our young adults can work together with the community to truly impact the community,” TCCHS Service Learning Coordinator Stann McLeod said. “The academy worked with the Thomasville and Thomas County Homeless Coalition all year to find just the right project to go and make a difference.”

Representatives from the academy and the rescue met at TCCHS Wednesday, May 15 for the $1,500 check presentation.

Lee Waller, president of the rescue’s board of directors and pastor of Dawson Street Baptist Church, details how this donation was literally an answer to a prayer made days before at a board meeting. 

“We specifically asked the Lord to provide something that week,” he recalls. 

Two days later, McLeod reached out to nonprofit Fountain of Life Rescue in hopes of donating money to the program.  

“Look what God did,” Waller said. “This is an answer to our prayers.” 

The Fountain of Life Rescue, founded by Jimmy Moore, is a faith-based organization that tries to help those in need beyond just providing shelter or food. 

“I was working at the local food bank and met a gentleman who had been beaten on the street and robbed and had nowhere to go,” Moore said. “I then decided that I would do something to help such folks.”

This donation will help fund many items needed to get the facility up and running and also to sustain its services.

Waller said the greatest needs of the new outreach project is for volunteers and the funds to keep the facility operating efficiently and effectively.

Recently graduated senior Caleb Moore, an academy member, explained the process of putting the event together. 

“Planning the Dodgeball Tournament was not easy,” he said. “But the help of an amazing team, comprised of 24 Chick-Fil-A leader academy members, made it all the easier.” 

Junior Nate Bellamy expressed his excitement about the tournament’s outcome. 

“I was excited that we were able to earn an incredible profit, but what I thought created the largest impact was the amount of fun everyone had playing or watching the tournament,” he said.

Bellamy says this tournament was important to him because it made him feel like he was contributing to a cause in a big way. 

“I have always been determined to spread positivity,” he said. “The tournament was important to me because every smile I saw at the tournament and every smile that the earnings will bring make me feel successful.” 

The result of this tournament is something everyone could be proud of. 

“The outcome of the project was more than I could have hoped for,” sophomore Danielle Sauls, fundraising chairperson who presented the donation check on behalf of the academy, said. “The community, gathering together as a whole, was our intent.”

For more information on the Fountain of Life Rescue, contact Jimmy Moore at (229) 413-4601.