ROCKINGHAM — Some Richmond County deputies may soon be sporting beards.
Sheriff James Clemmons announced Monday that he will be allowing deputies to wear facial hair while in uniform from now until Aug. 31 as a donation for BackPack Pals of Richmond County.
“It was their idea … and I said, ‘Yeah, that’ll be a lot of fun,’” Clemmons said.
Each month, the deputies will donate out of their own pockets a certain amount of money that will go into a fund for the local charity.
The sheriff said the deputies’ beards will be kept neat and professional, not unkempt like Grizzly Adams.
Other employees of the sheriff’s office who can’t or don’t want to grow facial hair can also contribute to the fund for other allowances, like wearing jeans on Fridays, Clemmons added.
“We will then turn those donations over to assist for what they (BackPack Pals) do for our kids going back to school,” he said.
BackPack Pals Public Relations Director Kim Lindsey was unaware of the effort until contacted for this story Monday afternoon.
“We’re always thrilled with any donation and for those guys to do something so out of the box for them makes it an even more special donation,” she said. “We certainly do appreciate any community activity like this.”
According to Lindsey, some companies and organizations collect their donations as competitions between shifts.
“It’s wonderful when the organization finds a way to give money to the program and have fun while doing it,” she added.
Lindsey said BackPack Pals has been feeding about 600 children each week and providing bags to the county’s elementary schools.
