Hike For The Fallen

My name is Joshua Pruitt. I am a 25 year old firefighter for Cartersville Fire Dept. in the city of Cartersville, Ga. I am an avid adventurer and outdoorsman. in 2010 I completed a northbound, long distance section hike of the Appalachian Trail. The hike forever changed my life, becoming the catalyst for my entry into Fire and EMS. In June of this year I will be attempting a northbound thru hike of Vermont's Long Trail, spanning 274 miles from the Massachusetts/Vermont border, across the high ridge of the Green Mountains, with the Northern Terminus lying at the Vermont/Canada border. As a way of giving back to the service I love, using the same catalyst that gave me my start, I will be using my hike to raise funds and awareness for the Georgia Fallen Firefighters Foundation. 100% of the funds raised will go to the GFFF. 5K of the 10k I hope to raise has been earmarked to create a Uniform loan program. Designed to help fire departments with limited resources, the creation of such a program in Georgia will allow class A uniforms to be provided, free of charge, to a department that has experienced a LODD. All other donations will be applied to the general fund, allowing the GFFF to use as they deem appropriate. Being that the organization is a 501 (C) (3) public charity, all donations, bequests, devises, transfers and gifts to the foundation are also eligible for tax deduction under the Federal IRS Tax Code. The mission of the Georgia Fallen Firefighters Foundation is "To champion firefighter line-of-duty death prevention and assist the families and public safety agencies who have experience a line-of-duty death." The Georgia Fallen Firefighters Foundation was born out of the Georgia Local Assistance State Team (L.A.S.T.). While many states have traditional L.A.S.T. teams, Georgia's team had expanded beyond the traditional teams service capabilities in the provision of services to departments and families who have suffered a LODD. Officially beginning business December 1, 2011 the foundation was formed by three of the Georgia L.A.S.T. original founding members; Dennis Thayer, Ronnie Payne and David Bradley. More info on the GFFF can be found on their website www.gafallenfirefighters.org more information on my hike, including progress reports, logistical information, and simple musings can be found at www.freshgoesendtoend.blogspot.com also by searching for Hike For The Fallen on Facebook.

additional donations can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/hikeforthefallen