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JeepFest
Sheriff Donnie Craig and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office launched JeepFest as an annual fundraiser to provide needy children with a place to live, clothing, supplies, healthy food, and above all else, love.
Crawl for the Kids
Labor Day weekend attracts Jeep owners and clubs from all over the country to Jasper for the annual Sheriff’s JeepFest event. This threeday family-friendly event is packed full of Jeep obstacles, trails, and mud plus live music, food vendors, and more. JeepFest 2021 saw over 2,000 registered Jeeps participating in the event with an estimated 20,000 spectators cheering on the action. Speaking of action, there’s plenty to be found as Jeep drivers navigate obstacle courses, maneuver rugged forest trails, and engage in exhilarating challenges with special access to venues and trails that are typically closed to public wheeling and crawling. The Mud Pit Challenge dares owners to drive their Jeeps into a muddy path with water as deep as their tires while Karnage Klimb pits the Jeeps against a steep boulderstrewn hill, requiring an adventurous climb like no other. In the wake of tornadoes that devastated the Pickens community in 2009, Sheriff Donnie Craig recognized the need within the community and took action to create the Sheriff’s Foundation of Pickens County in order to provide children in need with housing, food, and clothing. Through this initiative, JeepFest was born and has since grown into the foundation’s largest source of funding with 100 percent of the proceeds being distributed to a variety of children’s charities throughout Pickens County. In 2021, the foundation raised over $167,000 for local children in need.
