BLOOMINGDALE, GA – Hundreds of community members and first responders came together on Saturday for a fun challenge to help children in need.

Employees from Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, Effingham Fire and Rescue, Effingham County EMS, Rincon Fire and Rincon PD battled it out at the Combat Zone paintball arena at the Big Nasty ATV Park to raise money for PACK, or People of Action Caring for Kids. The local nonprofit delivers food to kids at risk of hunger.

“We’re always type A personality, we like to get in there and get the job done, and get after it, so this is right up our alley,” said Effingham firefighter Brent Conner.

The fundraiser began as a social media challenge and grew into a county-wide benefit. Local attorney Jamie Casino promised to donate ten thousand dollars for the charity if people matched the number of likes on the PACK Facebook page. Tuesday night, the challenge was met. On Saturday, Casino presented a check to the organization.

“This is a perfect example of how God’s plans are always bigger than ours. This turned out to be something that far exceeded our expectations. Now, at Christmas time, these children are going to get ten thousand dollars and at what better time for the year?,” said Casino.

The Combat Zone is also donating five dollars from every ticket sold to PACK, and whether neighbors rooted for fire or police, first responders can agree that the battle to help children in need is only the beginning.

“It went from a shift thing, to a whole department thing, to a fire and law thing, to a community wide benefit, and so we tried to rally around a cause that we believe in, and as you can see from the support around here, everyone else is behind us too,” Conner told News 3.

If you’re interested in donating or learning more about PACK, click here.