Bikers, walkers to help pregnancy center

Published 10:38 pm Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Ride and Walk for Life, a benefit event for the Women’s Enrichment Center in downtown Dalton, will be staged at Mount Rachel Baptist Church on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Registration for the motorcycle ride begins at 9:30 a.m. with the ride to start at 10:15 a.m. Registration for the 1-mile walk is at 10:30 a.m. and the start is set at 11 a.m. Mount Rachel Baptist is at 1600 Haig Mill Road N.W.

Riders and walkers are urged to secure pledges to support the pro-life pregnancy center and turn them in on the day of the event. For motorcyclists, there is a $30 donation fee to participate, and an additional rider costs $5. Or bikers and riders can collect pledges to pay for the ride.

Walkers receive a commemorative T-shirt for raising $150. If they cannot attend on the day of the walk they’re encouraged to walk on another day of the week, according to promotional material. If needed, the center will help in collecting money from pledges that are made. Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places in family, church, youth groups and individual categories. Donations are also being accepted from businesses to help offset event expenses.

The center is a Christ-centered ministry that opened in 1985 as the Dalton Pregnancy Center. Since then, organizers say, they have ministered to thousands of women — including “sharing the Gospel in word and deed” — and project they will help meet the pregnancy and counseling needs of 1,400 women this year.

“We want to raise awareness about the need in Whitfield and Murray counties,” said Rene´e Magee, volunteer secretary and board member. “In 2008 we had 787 individual clients, and a total of 2,013 visitors to our center. In 2009 — to show how much the need has grown — we’ve already seen 680 individual clients and 3,272 visits to our center in eight months. So there is a need. We are here to help girls who are facing a crisis pregnancy and we want to teach them how to be better parents. We’re here to serve the Lord and serve our clients with Christ’s love.”

The ministry offers pregnancy testing and ultrasound referral, baby items and clothing, parenting classes, abstinence and character education, and post-abortion/miscarriage support and counseling.

Its “Earn While You Learn” program allows parents and potential mothers to earn credits toward “purchases” like maternity and baby clothes, blankets, diapers, formula and other supplies. Another program, “You Are Unique,” teaches abstinence and the dangers of sexually-transmitted diseases through character-based classes in the middle schools of Dalton, Whitfield and Murray counties.

All services are free and all maternal and baby items have been donated to the ministry.

For more information, call (706) 278-1050 or go to www.wecdalton.org. The center is located at 118 W. Gordon St.