On Saturday January 21, Coach Hugh Yaughn was honored with the Visionary Award from his alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University. The award was given out as part of the GSW’s inaugural “Gold Force Gala.” The gala was a black-tie fundraiser in support of student scholarships.
But alongside raising funds, the university bestowed “Outstanding Alumni Awards” to seven alumni for their community work. Among the seven recipients was Yaughn, whose work with his home-grown organization, Fostering Bulloch, earned him the Visionary Award.
The event began with a cocktail social and silent auction at 6pm. The live music performed by the Mainstream Band filled the social hall as reuniting ensued. After the social hour, a dinner and presentation of the 2023 Outstanding Alumni Awards commenced. Yaughn won the Visionary Award, being the third person in the university’s history to receive the honor. Historically, the Visionary Award is given to an entrepreneur or innovator for significant contribution to the advancement of a business or enterprise.
Yaughn’s Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers, Bill Finney and Sparky Reeves, submitted his name for his impactful work with Fostering Bulloch. Moreover, fraternity brothers Stick Miller, Ben Hamrick, Allen Fort, and Eddie Ward were all in attendance with their companions to witness Yaughn’s honor. Reeves, though not in attendance due to medical issues, presented the award virtually with a moving introduction extoling Yaughn’s life and work before his acceptance speech.
Yaughn’s work and community impact extends back more than 40 years. After graduating from GSWU in December 1971, he began his teaching years as a Physical Education Coach in Bulloch County. And over the course of his decades-long work, he has taught at Southeast Bulloch, Tattnall, Jenkins, and Blackshear High Schools.
But always pressing on his heart was the desire to help Bulloch County’s community of children in foster care. So over time, Yaughn worked tirelessly to build up a network of organizations under the umbrella organization of Fostering Bulloch.
Fostering Bulloch’s mission is to share the love of Christ with children and families in crisis situations. The organization’s resources go towards supporting the family unit and promoting positive change for the future. Subsidiary organizations underneath the Fostering Bulloch organization are the Hope Chest, Amplify Hope, and the 7th Mile Farm.
Each of these organizations is committed to the recovery, rescue, and advancement of in-need individuals in Bulloch and surrounding counties. Yaughn is grateful for the support that he has been able to provide across the states of Georgia through his organizations.
He says, “Our motto here at Fostering Bulloch is that ‘Hope Grows Here.’ We try to incorporate hope into everything that we do because we want people in the process of rebuilding their lives to build it on the hope for a better future. And for us here at Fostering Bulloch: happiness is truly helping people in need.”
Yaughn sends out countless thanks to his entire team who work tirelessly for the Fostering Bulloch organization. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) the 14 ladies who work daily at the Hope Chest at 102 Elm Street in Statesboro.
Yaughn says, "We wouldn’t be able to do anything without all of the individuals who work within our organization.”
For more information on the Fostering Bulloch Organization, visit fosteringbulloch.com or call (912) 690-2498.