TIFTON — Local businesses, churches and individuals set out luminaries on Oct. 24 to show support for providing safe and caring environments for children.

White bags with sand and candles lined city streets, driveways, county roads and sidewalks around the area as close to 60 registered sites put out a visual reminder of their support of local youth.

The Tift County Commission on Children and Youth (TC3Y) spearheads the community wide event each year.

The hope of the event organizers is that many locations in Tift County will come together to show that the community cares about and supports the well-being of local youth.

The day was chosen specifically to fall on a Wednesday because many local churches already host youth groups on that day. The date also fell within National Red Ribbon Week, which focuses on drug-use prevention in young people.

TC3Y is a nonprofit collaborative that works to “bring community partners together to develop, implement, and evaluate plans that address the serious challenges facing Georgia’s children and families.”

Quality Employment Service, Shubha Chatterjee, First Baptist Church, the City of Tifton, Affinity Pediatrics, Tift Regional Medical Center, Tiftarea YMCA, Behavioral Health Services, Brookfield Baptist Church, the Council of Garden Clubs, Day’s Glass Company, Oak Grove Church, Tifton Housing Authority, The Tift County Sheriff’s Office, all three Tifton Fire Department stations, First United Methodist Church, Affinity West Campus, the Tift County Recreation Department, The Salvation Army, the Tift County Board of Commissioners, Charles Spencer Elementary School, Filiberto Hernandez, Tift Towers with the help of the Society of St. Andrew, Hospice of Tiftarea, Northeast Middle School, Pregnancy Care Center, the Tifton-Tift County Public Library, the University of Georgia Tifton Campus, Insurance Unlimited, Eastside Baptist Church, Coastal Plain CASA, Our Divine Savior Catholic Church, Kelly and Rick Shoniker, Mother’s Love and Mother’s Love Too, Sixth Street Academy, Eighth Street Middle School, Tift County Fire/Rescue, Lifehouse Ministries, Crossview, The Bridge of Tiftarea, Affinity for Women, Tifton Ophthalmology, The Tifton Gazette, Eve Copeland, Keep Tift Beautiful and the Community Garden, Scales Express, the Tift West subdivision, Tift County Department of Family and Children Services, the Tifton Department of Community Development, Maggie Martin and Southern Oaks Personal Care Home registered to put out luminaries.