ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County schools’ LifeWise programs are teaming up to raise funds to support their efforts through a 5K race.

The 5K will start at 8:30 a.m. with packet pickup and late registration at 7 a.m. Aug. 9 at the Belmont County Fairgrounds, 45420 Roscoe Road, St. Clairsville.

For students age 17 and under, race registration will be $20; for adults, it is $25 until July 9 and then $30 July 10 through Aug. 9.

A free color run for children ages 5-11, where colored powder is thrown at participants, will follow the 5K. There will also be activities for children during the race, such as face painting and a clown balloon artist.

People can register for the race at runsign.com/race/OH/StClairsville/LifeWiseBelmontCounty5K.

The 5K organizers are looking for sponsors for the race. Sponsoring agencies will receive a set number of free registrations to participate in the race, recognition on social media multiple times before and after the race, a shout out during the event and they will be listed on a sign during the event. In addition, donations of at least $2,000 will receive their logo on the race shirts. Donors of $1,000-$1,999 will have their name on the back of the race shirts. People can email the logo to lizaspence@lifewise.org for any donations of $2,000 or more.

Union Local LifeWise Director Dana McGary said this is not only a fundraiser, but also an outreach for people to be aware of LifeWise.

LifeWise is a national program that started gaining traction in Belmont County a few years ago.

It is a release time religious instruction program.

Students are released from school during school hours to receive character education through Bible-based study. This is legal and possible by meeting the following three criteria: parents provide written permission, it takes place off of school property and it is completely privately funded. All public school districts in Belmont County currently have a LifeWise program, and across those seven programs, more than 1,000 students participate. The program is offered free of charge to all students.

Other directors of the programs include Liza Spence for Barnesville schools, Carol Morgan for St. Clairsville schools, Veronica Haile for Shadyside schools, Diana Kennon for Bellaire and Bridgeport schools and Lindsay Holmes for Martins Ferry schools.

“We’re coming together as a county to do this fundraiser together,” McGary said, “because we want to get that word out about what LifeWise is because, surprisingly, you’ll still find someone who says, ‘What is that?'”

McGary added that this 5K fundraiser is a great way to let people know about the program and potentially sign children up for it.

Students in the schools take home information, but McGary thinks if the parents can actually talk to the directors face to face and really understand what the program is, it will help them become more excited and confident about signing their child up for it.

The money raised from the 5K will mainly be used for curriculum, covering students being in the LifeWise classroom and going toward other expenses, such as buses, staffing and locations.

McGary said at Union Local, there is a distance issue because there is not a church nearby; however, other schools in the county might have a church across the street that the children can walk to for the LifeWise program. Union Local students are bused to a Flushing location.

Overall, Union Local had 122 children who participated last year, and McGary described it as an amazing experience.

McGary said children hear their parents talk, which might make them feel uncertain about the world, but the program encourages children to understand that there is a God who loves people, and there’s security in that.

McGary said what she’s seen in the program over the past year is that children who might not hang out together at school don’t separate during the lessons, describing everyone as one group.

She emphasized the students’ feedback to LifeWise, even saying one child was crying because the program ended for the year. She described it as students’ safe space.

McGary said she knows the LifeWise program has been effective because of the way the children talk about it. She cited one student saying, “We can look to each other,” after being asked where to find wisdom.

Not only do the children have positive feedback to the program, but teachers have told the directors they see better attendance, better behavior and character traits they work on in the program.

Parents have also given positive feedback, McGary said, as at the end of the year, the directors send out an email survey. She said the feedback was very encouraging, with parents stating their children love to go to LifeWise and that it’s their favorite day of the week.

LifeWise serves seven schools right now in Belmont County, and the program could potentially grow to more grades within those schools. McGary said she’s hoping that this being a county-wide program will encourage other counties, including Harrison and Jefferson, to join Lifewise.

McGary said volunteers are always needed, and this fundraiser is helping meet the program’s financial needs.

“You just have to see it to understand,” she said. “We pull up at the school, get off the bus. The kids are at the door waiting to go, huge smiles on their faces, and they’re just engaged and really interested in what it is that we’re trying to get across to them, which is that in this really hard world, challenging world, there is something that they can hold on to. There is hope for them.”