Lee Wagner’s “Walk to Remember” will take him from Starr’s Mill High School, Fayetteville, GA, to Bethesda United Methodist Church in Welcome, NC. Wagner is making the nearly 400-mile journey, beginning on March 28, to raise funds for scholarships and mission trips.

At the heart of his “Walk to Remember” is the memory of his 18-year-old daughter Jillian and his 16-year-old son Lee who were killed in an automobile accident on Mother’s Day 2004. For more information on Jillian and Lee Jr., who are pictured here, see www.AWalkToRemember.org.

Lee and his wife Deborah previously funded the Wagner Courtyard at Starr’s Mill High, which the kids attended, as well as a scholarship in their honor at that school. In addition to funding that scholarship, the Wagners say funds raised by the walk also will be used to initiate a scholarship at North Davidson High School in Welcome, NC, where their kids attended school before the family moved to Fayetteville in 2000.

“We also want to make a contribution from the walk funds to Bethesda United Methodist Church (in Welcome),” Wagner says. “This is our family’s home church in North Carolina and the final resting place of Jillian and Lee Jr.”

After starting out on March 28, Wagner will continue to walk every Saturday and Sunday through April. Beginning May 1, he will walk every day until his arrival in Welcome, NC, on Mother’s Day morning. In addition to being the anniversary of his children’s deaths, this Mother’s Day also will coincide with the date of his 56^th birthday.

To contribute to the Walk to Remember and the Jillian and Lee Scholarship Fund, visit www.AWalkToRemember.org for a pledge form. Anyone interested in further information about the walk, donations and the programs funded by the donations, can refer to the Web site or call 770-716-5298.

Wagner says there also are opportunities for youth groups, civic organizations and faith organizations to use “Walk to Remember” as a fundraiser for their own use. “They can walk in memory of their own loved ones and collect pledge money for their own projects,” he says. “It seems in keeping with the spirit of this walk to work collaboratively toward the common good.”

OTHER INFORMATION: