It’s New Years, and that means making new goals to help us better ourselves and others. One may know these goals as resolutions, whether that means trying to exercise more, or to participate in charity and community activities. The Children’s Hunger Project (TCHP) Club decided to combine both into a fit-and-fun morning, choosing the Health First and TCHP 5k as their semester project.
The 5k was hosted on Saturday, January 10th. “The Children’s Hunger Project has been doing this 5k for ten years,” said sophomore Addie Barlow. “They decided to promote it through the school as part of our club semester activity.” Barlow ran in the 5k along with friends and sophomores Heidi Rauscher and Naya Shah.
“We had multiple different options in mind and then we narrowed it down through a voting system,” said Rauscher. “I think we were also considering a cookie drive or a bake sale [and] a few other options.”
On Saturday, hundreds of people got an early start to participate in this charity 5k. Holy Trinity student and track athlete Grace Mooney was one. “There were a bunch of people there and everyone had high energy for 8 a.m.,” said Mooney, who placed second overall. “Before the race, a physical therapist representative did a group stretch that helped get everyone connected and involved.” Mooney described the race experience as enjoyable since it had easy-to-follow paths, music, and breakfast afterwards.
Alongside Mooney, Frances Hale placed first in her age group. “My experience at the Health First 5K was really meaningful,” said Hale. “I was grateful to place with Grace Mooney, and I loved being able to represent the Children’s Hunger Project while doing something I love.” She explained the importance of participating in events like these, since they bring attention to the problem of child hunger in our community that we may not have otherwise noticed. “Events like the HealthFirst 5k help connect people to the mission and work together to spread awareness.”
Like most 5ks, participants paid for entry to the TCHP 5k. Naya explained how this race was unique. “You could [donate], and you had to pay to enter the race itself,” said Shah. “And even all of the packing of the lunches is fully voluntary, so the organization isn’t getting money itself, it’s completely non-profit and goes straight to the cause.” The Children’s Hunger Project started fifteen years ago in 2010 in Brevard County, Florida, with the goal of giving weekend lunches to elementary school students experiencing hunger, and now aiding thousands of kids throughout the county (https://thechildrenshungerproject.org/). “All the money goes to buying food to make snack packs for children so that they go home on the weekends to guaranteed food,” said Barlow.
“Seeing so many people come out for this cause made the experience feel like it stood for something bigger than just a time or a place,” said Hale.
