In his last trip to Bulloch County, Jack Fussell jogged with purpose.
The 62-year-old Canton, Ga., native, clad in bright yellow and pushing a stroller filled with water and goods, passed through Statesboro as part of a more-than 3,500-mile trek across the United States to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The coast-to-coast adventure that began in January has ended, but the mission continues.
Saturday, Fussell will be back in Statesboro; and he will jog again.
This time, he will be part of the Alzheimer's Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s — the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.
The local walk is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Bulloch Academy, on Westside Road.
“I’m so tickled to do the walk,” Fussell said. “I am walking for my dad, and so many other people across the country that have gone through far worse things. I am walking for a bunch of people, and I feel so honored to be able to do it.”
Fussell, who spent last weekend in a small Tennessee town for another Alzheimer’s event, is attempting to “go to as many of these walks as I can,” he said.
He said the idea first came to him when Deborah Heddendorf, the development director for the Georgia Chapter, Coastal Region of the Alzheimer’s Association, and another friend he had met during his travels, invited him to various walks shortly after finishing the cross-country journey.
“I had never considered it,” Fussell said. “I’m so lucky to be invited, and doing what I’m doing.”
With 31 teams and 185 walkers already registered, the Bulloch County event has raised $36,879 so far — more than half of the $66,733 goal.
In his walk earlier this year, Fussell helped garner more than $27,000 in contributions.
“The money that we did raise just tickled me to death,” he said. “(The trip) was a lot of work and I’m very proud of it. It was very hard and emotional, but it was good. It was amazing, and is hard to describe sometimes.”
As important as the money raised, Fussell said, were the moments he shared with people along the way.
“We received a lot of media coverage; so, many people would come out to tell their Alzheimer’s stories. I probably had 10-20 people stop beside the road every single day to tell us their stories,” he said. “Almost all of them were dealing with the condition, but until that moment, had never heard of the Alzheimer’s Association.”
Because of the success of the walk, Fussell, with the Alzheimer’s Association again in his corner, is planning to foot it from the Atlantic to the Pacific at least once more.
“$250,000 has become our ultimate goal,” he said. “I will be leaving from Delaware in March, and will travel along the American discovery trail to San Francisco.”
The route is more than 5,000 miles long.
Fussell also plans to do a third trip, in 2015, but does not yet know if it will be coast-to-coast, or along the Appalachian Trail, which stretches Georgia to Maine.
Jeff Harrison may be reached at (912) 489-9454.