Coweta County hosts youth charity tourney

New at 6, a softball tournament in Coweta County will raise funds for at-risk children and the Georgia Sheriff's Youth Homes. Fox 6's Doug Evans learned more about that program and how it's been an alternative to foster care since the 1960s. Georgia Sheriff stepping up to keep kids out of trouble before they end up in their county jails. Here's Coweta County Sheriff Lynn Wood. We're trying to keep them away from that element that tries to bring them down. To get them out of, someone's got to break the cycle. If they're growing up in that area where there's always, the only thing they know is criminal acts, then... We need to get them out of those areas. The Georgia Sheriff's Association has campuses that make up their youth homes, beautiful, sprawling property. From testimonials, many of these kids come from broken homes with parents in the legal system, kids who have already bounced around in the foster care system. Here's Executive Director Terry Norris. They're at-risk kids, in crisis, most of them. They're abused, they're abandoned, they're And they're neglected. Oftentimes their families are unable to care for them or don't care for them in some way. We're there for all the kids and we want to make sure that they're getting the absolute best upbringing, best A teaching ability that we can give them. We take them from six to however age, up to probably 16, 17. These children, a lot of them come to us with nothing. So when they walk in the door, they have to have toothpaste, toothbrush, underwear, clothes, everything. Norris says the kids attend public schools and when they graduate, get this, the Georgia Sheriff's Association picks up the tab for... college or trade school. So it's either college or technical school. We've had children that graduate high school and go to the military. So we've had children that graduated high school, went to college, and we've helped become doctors. This weekend in Coweta County, the sheriff's office will host a charity softball tournament to help raise funds for the Georgia Sheriff's Youth Homes. Sheriff Wood says the money raised from the softball tournament goes He goes to the youth homes and adds to contributions from From civic organizations and corporate sponsors, you can learn more about the Georgia Sheriff's Youth Homes at www.georgiasheriffsyouth.org. I'm Doug Evans, Fox 5 News in Coweta County.