A crowd of hundreds of gay jocks, couch potatoes and weekend warriors tossing eggs, working hula hoops, squeezing sponges and eating pie can make an $85,000 difference. How’s that for an Atlanta Field Day with a purpose?
AFD Founder Davis Kirby (photo center) announced on Monday that the annual event dished out the record $85,000 it raised leading up to the Sept. 15 event to seven Atlanta-area non-profits. (View photos from Atlanta Field Day.) The biggest checks–$40,000 each–were delivered to Camp Twin Lakes and Jerusalem House. Atlanta Field Day also donated $1,000 each to SAGE Atlanta, Pets Are Loving Support, Women’s Empowerment, Lost N Found Youth and Positive Impact’s MISTER program.
Reaching the $85,000 mark also meant that Kirby lost his hair. He promised supporters that if they hit that total, he’d shave his head. Or more accurately – and hotly – have rugby stud and cuddle bear Ben Cohen do it. So he did at a fundraiser after Atlanta Field Day.
Kirby thanked participants and sponsors on Monday after delivering the checks to two non-profits.
“Thank you so very much for being a part of Atlanta Field Day. You have made a difference in someone’s life, you have changed the community, and, in our own way, you have changed the world,” Davis says.
Atlanta Field Day has grown into a popular fundraising event each fall. It opened in 2010 with 100 competitors who raised $13,000. Last year, some 400 participants raised $72,414.
Photo via @atlantafieldday
