Stephens County — A group of concerned citizens and religious leaders want to send a message to drug dealers in Stephens County.

The Stephens County Anti-Drug Coalition, in conjunction with members of the religious community and others, are planning a march for this fall to send the message that drugs are not welcome in Toccoa and Stephens County.

“We are having an anti-drug march in October, the third weekend in October, which we are hoping will involve thousands of people on foot,” said L.J. Harrison, chairman of the event. “We are going to have church buses to carry those who cannot march. We are going to have bikers and truckers on another route. This is a massive march we have got planned.”

Harrison said to help plan the march, a pre-planning and prayer breakfast is taking place this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church on East Tugalo Street in Toccoa.

“It is going to take a big effort to carry this drug march off and we need a lot of volunteers to do this,” Harrison said. “We are going to have forms that they can fill out with what they want to do, what they are volunteering to do on that Saturday morning. Logistics are what this meeting is for.”

The meeting is open to anyone in the community who wants to help with the march, according to organizers.

Stephens County Anti-Drug Coalition President Danny Yearwood said the community’s support and involvement is vital to the success of the march.

“I was caught up into the drug world for a while and the bondage,” said Yearwood. “I see people in that pain now, and my heart hurts for them. If there has ever been a mission that people contributed to, this should be a mission for our hometown.”

The idea for the march came from a town in Kentucky where Yearwood said drug use was curbed significantly after the town conducted a similar rally. Yearwood said the plan is to also enact other programs to help curtail drug use in Toccoa and Stephens County.

Event organizers said they would like to see a standing-room only crowd at Saturday’s breakfast at the First United Methodist Church. For more information about the march or the breakfast, call Yearwood at (706) 491-9027 or Harrison at (706) 206-0529.