SALISBURY — The first Donuts for Dollars 5K fundraiser is being held on Saturday by GNC and the Salisbury Rowan Runners to benefit the Salisbury Police Foundation. The foundation is aimed at providing health resources that are outside of the department’s budget.

The event will begin at 9 a.m. with a 5K race, followed by a fun run at 10 a.m. Seth Waller, owner of GNC Salisbury and member of the foundation’s board, said that anyone who wants to participate can sign up on the day of between 7:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. Walkers are also welcome.

Pre-registration can be done at runsignup.com. In-person registration and packet pickup can be done at GNC, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.

“It made sense that GNC would partner up with the Salisbury Police Foundation since we both have health and wellness as our goals. All the proceeds are going to the foundation, our goal is just to build awareness around the foundation,” said Waller.

Waller also said that the foundation and GNC is calling this event the first because they hope to make it an annual event.

The foundation is currently working with the department on a new program that will provide bicycles to officers, said President John Struzick. The foundation also recently renovated the department’s gym and replaced almost all of the equipment.

“It’s all about health and wellness, and that’s what the funds raised from this race will go to, supporting the Salisbury Police Foundation. We have certified officers that ride our police bikes, but they have to go through a pretty rigorous two-week training course to get certified. Then we have officers that just want to ride bikes for health because they don’t want to run and we can’t let them ride those bikes because of maintenance, upkeep and they’re marked police,” said Salisbury Police Chief Patrick “P.J.” Smith.

Smith said that he will be participating in the event himself and has even trained for it.

“My goal is to finish last behind the runners and first in front of the walkers,” said Smith.

Deputy Chief Brian Stallings said that while he will not be participating in the race, he will be there to help out along with Struzick. Foundation board member Brenda Wood said that she will be selling blue candles at the event, which people can put in their window to honor fallen officers.

Awards for the 5k race will be given out in the male and female categories to the top three overall runners, the first place masters runners and the top three in every age group. Awards for the 1/2 mile fun run will be given to the top three overall racers and medals will be given to all participants who are 12 or under.

The designated running course is a two-loop course using the parking area around Tinseltown and Bendix Drive.

Entry into the race will cost $30 on Friday and $35 on Saturday. The fun run costs $10 both days. Each event will begin at the GNC store located at 243 Faith Road near Lowe’s. Participants will also be given a long-sleeve, dry-fit shirt.