By Sarrah Peters, News Editor
The Pilot Club of Gadsden awarded a check for $1,000 to Brian Smith of the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office for Project Lifesaver at the club’s meeting on September 28.
Project Lifesaver is a program that provides bracelets with trackers to individuals that are prone to be wander away from home and become lost, like in cases of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, autism or Down’s Syndrome.
Smith, who is one of the county’s two Project Lifesaver coordinators, gave an update on the program. Currently about 35 people in Etowah County are participating in the program. About thirteen more people are on a waiting list to become involved in the program.
Smith said that he is optimistic that the waiting list will go down, as the Sheriff’s Office hopes to have several fundraisers to buy more tracking bracelets. Each tracker, bracelet and batteries cost about $350 a year. Smith said the cost has fallen with the program’s switch to two-month batteries from one-month batteries.
The Gadsden Pilot Club sponsors several other programs, including “Brain Minders,” which presents information to elementary students about the importance of protecting their brains with the use of helmets.
Pilot International was founded in Macon, Ga. in 1921. It is a service organization that promotes awareness of brain-related disorders and disabilities and improving the lives of those affected.
For more information about the Gadsden Pilot Club and its many efforts, call Rebecca Tinker at 256-393-0102 or Sherre McGinnis at 256-490-7271.