Sheriff Gary Gulledge had a special visitor come see him at his office. Miss Brystol Haynes, who is the three year old daughter of Paulding County Firefighter Hunter and Chelsea Haynes, came to see the Sheriff. Ealier this year, Brystol was diagnosed with Leukemia and has undergone chemotherapy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for the past several months. During her visit, Sheriff Gulledge deputizied Brystol and made her an official Junior Deputy.
Usually, the Sheriff’s Office solicits donations for our annual Cops for Kids Christmas shopping program for less fortunate children. This year Sheriff Gulledge decided to change it up a bit. This fall, the Sheriff’s Office particpated in several fundraisers with the intention to donate the money to Cops for Kids, which included donating the proceeds from the sales of the blue line “In God We Trust” decals by FL Graphix. Sheriff Gulledge also allowed non uniformed personnel to particpate in “No-Shave November” with the provision that each Deputy that partipated had to pay $50. The money generated from this was originally going to be put in the Sheriff’s Office Relief Fund and Flower Fund.
Once Sheriff Gulledge heard about the Battle for Brystol he decided to donate the money to her. After the money was collected, which included several Cops for Kids fundraisers, proceeds from the sales of the “In God We Trust” blue line decals, and No-Shave November donations, Sheriff Gulledge and the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office were able to give the Haynes family $5000 dollars.
Sheriff Gulledge remarked, “I hope this small amount of money will ease the pain and heartache that this family has had to endure this year. A child’s life is precious and I truly hate to see Brystol have to go through this. My heart goes out to this family.”
If you would like to donate or find out more information about the “Battle for Brystol” you can call the Paulding County Fire Department at (770) 222-1160 or look them up on Facebook at Brystol Strong.