Commerce Community Church and Texas A&M University-Commerce students are holding a charity 5K fundraiser to help pay for a summer trip overseas to aid the less fortunate.
The run will take place on Saturday, April 2 from 8-11 a.m. and starts at the Greenville Sports Park in Greenville. They are also partnering with iGo Global, a non-profit organization that sponsors students on charity trips abroad.
Senior Marketing Major Rachel Evans said students are urged to sign up on runforthenations.eventbrite.com before online registration ends at 10 p.m. on March 30. Onsite registration will end at 7:30 a.m. before the race. For runners 18-years-old and older, there will be a $30 fee to enter while couples can enter the race for $55.
“Basically with the prices, children 5-years-old or younger are free to register, for people under 17-years-old it costs $15, and for everyone else it’s $30,” Evans said. “If you’re interested in registering, you can get on the site and there is contact information on our website where you can send any questions you have about the event. There is also information online for anyone who wants to sponsor the event. Overall, we’re trying to make this as much of a community event to bring everyone together.”
Junior construction science major Lanny Jones is one of the students helping to organize the event and is one of the students planning to travel to Central and South Asia.
“We’ll be working with the poor and orphanages and teaching them English,” Jones said. “Lauren Bullard and I are actually going with the group that is going to be staying the entire summer overseas. This is a fundraising event to pay for the sending costs for us.”
Evans said the event is open to a diverse crowd of people, such as serious runners and families looking to have a good time.
“The whole event should appeal to everybody,” Evans said. “On campus we have our own runner’s club like cross country, and running has actually become even more popular over the nation, as the whole health kick has gotten in. You can make this a family event if you want it to be. You could even have your family reunion at our event which would be great to bring out the whole family. For serious runners, you could try and improve your times at the event.”
Evans said that the event is located in a great spot for the entire family and for children.
“Also it’s perfect within the location,” Evans said. “Around the area you’ve got soccer fields, a park, you’ve got a hockey arena and basketball goals, it’s perfect for being able to bring the kids in as well. If dad wants to go run or mom wants to go run, then someone can watch the kids at the park, the kids will not be bored.”
Minors must be accompanied by an adult or legal guardian at the event in order to participate, and runners will not be allowed to bring any dogs with them to the race. Jones said that there will be live music and snacks for the participants after the race is finished.
“We’ll also have some really cool things going on at the event like every runner will get a t-shirt and we’ll have snacks and beverages,” Jones said. “There will also be a couple bands playing live music after the run.”
Junior sociology major Lauren Bullard is also helping organize the event and said there will officially be two bands playing after the race.
“The bands playing are Brown Worship and Halloway” Bullard said. “Brown Worship is a band from Fort Worth, Texas and the lead singers are Tiffani and Josh Brown. Tiffani and I have been best friends for many years and I wanted to invite them out for the event. As for Halloway, I met the band when I attended a church in Greenville where they were helping lead worship. Both are good friends of mine and I was excited to get both bands involved in this event. I am looking forward to having them worship with us at Run for the Nations.”