BUCKHORN – The Buckhorn Children’s Center received a big shot in the arm last week as Chad Warrix and David Tolliver of Halfway to Hazard were in town to deliver a sizable donation.

Meeting with the children served by the center at a ceremony in Buckhorn on Thursday, Warrix and Tolliver delivered a check for $200,000, all of which was raised during the Halfway to Hazard Charity Concert and Trail Ride in August.

Tolliver noted that while he and Warrix contribute to other charities in Nashville, it was also important for the Eastern Kentucky natives to be able to come back to their home region and help where the support for their music and what they have been working on has been continuous.

“We wanted to do something to help back here where we’re from,” said Tolliver. “Everybody’s always been so supportive of us. Chad and I through our music endeavors and moving away, we’ve always had support from back here. We could always count on that. We just wanted to come back to give back to that.”

Warrix, a native of Breathitt County, said growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky gives him a hometown feel no matter where he and Tolliver perform in the region, and its that sense of pride of origin that makes the charity concert and trail ride an event for the region, and not just for Halfway to Hazard.

“This event is way bigger than Halfway to Hazard,” he said. “It’s an event for the region, and it makes people just feel good about where you’re from and feel good about giving and being charitable.”

From here, Tolliver said Halfway to Hazard will continue to make music and play shows, and he expects the 2010 Charity Concert to be even bigger than before.

“I know we’ll get back up here and do this all over again and double in size next year. That’s our goal,” he said.

The money raised during the concert and trail ride will help the Buckhorn Children’s Center a great deal, said center director Bill Owens, who said the funds will be used for Christmas gifts for the children and special trips, an annex for the gymnasium, and for general operations.

“It’s a great shot in the arm for us,” said Owens, a Hazard native.

Owens noted that while much of the funding for the center comes from the state, that funding alone isn’t hardly enough to cover the cost of operating the center, leaving about $750,000 that needs to be raised each year.

In a year’s time, Owens said, the center will work with about 600 children, including those at the center and in foster care.

A lot of the behind-the-scenes work for the concert and trail ride was completed locally by Janet Smith and Tawny Hogg and other, all of whom received the gratitude of Perry County Judge Executive Denny Ray Noble for helping to make the event a success not only for Perry County, but for the region as a whole.

“Without them, we could have never made this happen,” said Noble.

More than 25,000 people attended the concert at the Abner family farm in the Crockettsville community of Breathitt County.