HARRISBURG, N.C. — A nine-year-old Cabarrus County boy is running miles to raise money for charity. CJ Baucom from Harrisburg committed to run 100 miles in 30 days.
For every mile he runs, he’s hoping people will donate to Cooperative Christian Ministry.
"I've been running 100 miles for CCM because they help with food and housing,” Baucom said. "And I think that they're the right program since a lot of people have lost their job because of COVID-19."
Baucom has always been a fast mover.
"I started walking at 10 months old, and I started running at 12 months old,” he said.
Now, he said his latest time for running a mile is under seven minutes.
Baucom decided to run for charity after he and his family recently donated food to CCM.
The third-grader learned more about their mission, which is to provide immediate assistance to members of the community who are experiencing crises in the areas of food, shelter, or finances while engaging them in a series of actions that will empower them to move beyond crisis.
He set off logging his progress on social media on April 18, with a goal of running 100 miles by May 19. He started off running four miles a day but has scaled it back.
"Since I was too good for that goal, mom said I had to slow down so I’m only doing like 3K’s,” Baucom added.
Baucom said he hopes to raise $4,000 for CCM, and he’s already more than halfway there.
"He is a great kid. He's got an amazing heart,” said Chad Baucom, CJ’s dad. “He's always wanted to do good things for people in his community whether he knew them or not, and this was a really good opportunity for him to be able to do that so I was really, really proud of him."
If you would like to keep up with CJ’s “Running for Good: 100 Miles for a Cause” journey, you can follow him on social media.
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