Our Third Annual Evelyn Knapp "Run to Remember" was held yesterday at Sunken Meadow State Park, thank you to all who attended and supported this fundraiser. With the devastation that Sandy inflicted upon us - we debated over having the event at all.
After careful deliberation over many of the facets of the run - we decided to hold our event as planned and donate half the proceeds to the families that have lost so much. You can imagine we wanted it to solve someone's problems, however we will not achieve that, but we hope we can make a difference in the lives of a few families.
Many thanks to the volunteers, the participants, the financial sponsors and the 'in kind' sponsors, the course coordinator, the timing company (a new one), friends, families and our cherished survivors.
Special kudos to the GreenVale School , a team of 48 young ladies and their three coaches that trained for 10 weeks to challenge the trails of Sunken Meadow. If you are, or have known a high school track star, you know this is one challenging course. These young girls, ages 9 to 13, worked hard, achieved their goal and finished the run. The GreenVale Pacers have been with Strength for Life from our Inaugural Run, they populate our run and make it a success with their team and their families that all come to support and learn what these girls have endured. In addition, they fund-raise for Strength for Life, this year collecting $900 for us. I would like to hear your applause for them - because they deserve it.
More kudos to Emma Thode, our youngest sole fundraiser. You may have read the earlier blog or the Newsday article , if not it is worth a read. An inspiring story of one young girl making a difference. Emma lost her grandfather, a man she loved, admired and missed. Emma decided to channel her energy to do "good"... we are very blessed to be the beneficiary of her efforts. Emma collected $500 for Strength for Life in a variety of ways, starting with her sisters and advancing her fund-raising skills at sporting events.
This is standing ovation now for these fund-raising efforts!
Some of our decisions to scale down this run may seem unfavorable and we ask for special consideration this year. Given the circumstance of Sandy, with no power and internet, the damage at Sunken Meadow and very few runner's registered by Friday, November 9th - we made a few decisions that may be deemed"unfavorable" without knowing the decision making process. When we decided to a) go on with the race and b) share the proceeds with the victims of Sandy we made the decision to scale down so a greater profit could be earned. The medals for age placements was cut (in the past so many people did not pick them up) and we thought IF a runner really wanted a medal- we would have them done afterwards and order just what was needed. We had 25 generic medals re-in-scripted from last year hoping that would satisfy. Then Bob Cook at Runner's Edgedonated a box full of useful goodies so there would be a gift for placing, hats, gloves and socks. It appeared many more people were interested in the medals this year, so please accept our error in judgement but know the additional money will be shared with families that have lost so much.
Our unofficial proceeds from the race $8200 - we will share $4000+ with the families we know of - unfortunately there are too many. Maybe with our help they could purchase an appliance or make Christmas happen. I understand the volume of need - we have some of our survivors that lost homes on the South Shore, some Firemen, some local residents - I can always help you 'adopt a family' IF you are able.
We are blessed to have had a successful event - attendance was less than the past years but we added an 3K Wellness Walk and many of our survivor class participants reached out to family, friends and businesses they patronize and made a huge difference.
There is applause needed all over this blog.
Thank you all and have a happy, healthy, Thanksgiving!
