News File Photo Deputy Jim Budnik of the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office in a May, 2019 file photo.

ROGERS CITY — When coworkers of Deputy Jim Budnik learned he was sick, they wanted to do something.

“His heart is just huge,” said Renee Szymanski, clerk and 911 coordinator at the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office.

When Budnik, a deputy with the county Sheriff’s Office, was recently diagnosed with a serious form of cancer, Szymanski and another county employee decided to plan a fundraiser and rally to support their friend.

Szymanski, who recently took up running, liked the idea of holding a walk — “Because not everyone is a runner,” she observed — through Rogers City.

Walking, seemed like a perfect fit for the event, Szymanski said, talking of her love for the chance of “just being able to breathe, and being able to forget about everything.”

Weather forecasts look great for the event, scheduled for Thursday.

An entry fee of $30 will support Budnik and his family. Walkers dressed in blue or red, some of them wearing Thin Blue Line T-shirts purchased specially for the occasion, will take to the road around 5:30 p.m., showing by their presence that they support the mild-mannered officer who has, for many years, been devoted to wearing a policeman’s uniform.

Budnik has worked for the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office full-time since 2011 as deputy, corrections officer, and, most recently, as “the best court officer we’ve ever had,” according to Presque Isle County Sheriff Joe Brewbaker.

People in the public see Budnik’s uniform and appreciate that he’s a deputy, Szymanski said, but there’s more to him than even that.

“He would, literally, give anyone the shirt off his back,” Szymanski said, tears in her voice. “And that is a true statement of who he is as a person.”

Budnik, who has been off duty since mid- to late-October, will be at the walk, Szymanski said, and is excited about the outpouring of appreciation from the community, in the form of Facebook posts, wearing of the rubber Thin Blue Line bracelets sold at the Sheriff’s Office in his honor, signups for the walk, and well-wishes.

Thursday’s walk will end with an all-invited gathering in Up North 23’s back room, where people can buy a coffee, warm up, and chat, drawn together by one nice man who has touched his community by wielding a heart behind a badge.

“We’re all coming together for one purpose, and that’s him,” Szymanski said.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.

If you go

∫ WHAT: Benefit walk for Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jim Budnik

∫ WHERE: Begins at Presque Isle County Courthouse, 151 E. Huron Ave., Rogers City

∫ WHEN: Registration 5 p.m. Thursday; walk begins 5:30 p.m.

∫ INFO: Registration fee of $30 to benefit Dep. Budnik and family as he fights cancer. The walk will proceed from the courthouse, down North 3rd Street to North Shore Park and Seagull Point, and back.