5K raises thousands for Special Olympics athletes
Local residents, students and alumni took to the streets of Mount Pleasant to support Special Olympics Michigan.
CMU and SOMI held a 5k walk/run on Saturday as part of homecoming weekend. Over 400 people participated. All proceeds went to athletes with disabilities in Michigan.
Conner Edelbrock, assistant director with fitness and wellness at CMU, is on the Homecoming 5k Committee, where she has served for the last two years. She said the event was a success.
“It’s a great cause. We try to help whenever we can,” Edelbrock said. “This is a really great event. It’s a really successful event, too.”
Edelbrock said the goal was to raise $11,000 for Special Olympics, but more than $14,000 was raised.
Molly Jennings, coordinator of injury care center at CMU, was working the medical tent during the event. She said she’s participated in the event every year she’s been at CMU.
“It’s always a great event,” said Jennings. “It’s a great cause to help out Special Olympics.”
Gabriella Hoffman and Chelsea Schaffer are the committee with Special Olympics for public relations and marketing.
“We’ve been working on (the event) since the beginning of the semester so it’s awesome to see the event unfold after we’ve been promoting it and recruiting volunteers and participants,” Hoffman said. “So now it’s kind of like the final hurrah to kick off homecoming.”
Many students and alumni participated in the 5k, most citing the “good cause” as their reason for running.
Eric Johnson, a graduate student from Spring Lake, said he’s been participating in this event since he was a freshman.
“I always come back as an alumni now for Special Olympics, to support it. And just because it’s a good time, a good homecoming tradition,” said Johnson.
Andrew Lovland, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, said he decided to participate because “it’s homecoming, I’m up, why not?”
Kayla Brower, a sophomore from Rockford, Mary Stasa, a sophomore from Chesaning, Marie Parker, a sophomore from Fowlerville and Julie Brown, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, said they came to the 5k because they have been running together since the beginning of the semester. They said they wanted to support a good cause and represent St. Mary’s University Parish.
Also at the event, several students were selling wristbands to raise money for the Special Olympics, and its Unified Sports program to encourage play between those with and without intellectual disabilities.
“Not a lot of people know about unified sports, especially playing it, so we want to help raise money for it,” said Ali Cable, a volunteer.
Whatever cause participants ran for Erin Dougherty, marketing and development manager with Special Olympics Michigan, was grateful for the opportunity to unite the community under a common cause.
“It’s for homecoming weekend, so it’s a good chance for alumni and students to get together, people from the community and support a worthwhile organization like Special Olympics,” he said. “We’re just grateful for everyone that came out and supported us. All the money goes back to our athletes, so it’s a great way to kick off homecoming weekend by supporting CMU and by supporting Special Olympics and our wonderful partnership that we have.”
For more information about Special Olympics Michigan, contact Erin Dougherty at (989) 774-3911 or erin@somi.org.
