Families4Families hosted their 4x4x48 event from Friday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. This was an endurance race that began on Friday at 8am, with the final run at 4am on Sunday.
Families4Families is a non-profit, faith-based private child placement agency for foster care families. This organization serves in a few locations, including the city of Statesboro. Shannon Ramsey, Families4Families South Georgia Director, says that this event is used to promote this foster care platform and shine a light on the struggles foster families often face.
“It’s meant to mirror that struggle and bring awareness,” Ramsey said.
More about Families4Families Southeast Director
Shannon Ramsey grew up in Statesboro and then attended Georgia Southern University. He met his wife, Kathy, and then decided to attend Bible college at the Baptist College of Florida. He later obtained his master's degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
He and his family attended church in Loganville, GA, a running community, and his interest for running blossomed there. He started signing up for the church's 5K races, and he ran his first marathon in 2010.
“I got interested in order to improve my health,” Ramsey said. “It became a passion for me for my health.”
In 2010, the family went overseas to work in missions. While overseas, he and his wife adopted their youngest child in 2016, and they returned to the U.S. in 2019.
The founder of Families4Families, Wayne Naugle, and Ramsey have known each other for 20 years, and when they returned from overseas, he asked Ramsey if he was interested in bringing Families4Families to this part of Georgia.
In Fall 2019, Ramsey started a soft launch of Families4Families here, getting families licensed to serve foster children. At the Statesboro location, there are now 20 foster families and roughly 23 children.
Families4Families partners with Fostering Bulloch to get all the supplies the children and their families need.
Why 4x4x48?
Ramsey had the idea to merge his passion for running and his love for foster care into one event. The event, 4x4x48, is explained as "4 miles, every 4 hours, for 48 hours." The event included 12 run segments all together, with breaks in between. All runners were asked to meet at Pittman Park UMC to start and end at the RAC pavilion.
The average foster family fosters children for one year in one placement. Then, it often ends due to families not getting the support they need.
The endurance style race was intended to bring awareness to the ongoing need for support and to let foster families know they are not alone in their struggles to make it through. Both the run and foster care are challenges that require strength, support, and help from others.
All proceeds from the 4x4x48 challenge will go to foster children and families within Families4Families for monthly support such as date nights, moms and dads support groups, birthday bags for foster families, and more.
Event was a success: Awareness and funds raised
“The event from a participation standpoint was great,” Ramsey said. “We got a lot of social media buzz, and we raised over $5,000 for the foster agency.”
These were the biggest goals in mind prior to the event: creating awareness and raising funds to support these families.
Ramsey’s post-run experience was a much more difficult race to run.
“I did have to endure some challenges, but I got done with the whole thing,” Ramsey said. “Our t-shirt tagline was, ‘May our work ethic match their sacrifice.’”
Families4Families is a 501c3 organization, accepting all donations to further their projects. For more information about Families4Families, click here. To check out videos click here.
