Run for a good cause
Boys and Girls Club of Strathmore host 4th annual 5K Fun Run
Porterville area residents interested in a local event that promotes exercise and good health while making a direct and meaningful impact in the community should clear off their calendars for this Saturday morning.
The Boys and Girls Club of Strathmore will be hosting its fourth annual 5K Fun Run this Saturday at Porterville Veterans Park at 9:00 a.m. All proceeds from the event go toward general operating support for the club’s activities. It is one of two main fundraising events the club hosts every year to raise money for its after school and summer programs.
Unlike other Boys and Girls Clubs around the area, the Strathmore chapter is not directly affiliated with a public school or district, and therefore receives no financial support through such a partnership. “Other clubs already have their facilities paid for, but we are strictly on our own,” said Gail Grasmick, member of the club’s Community Action Team responsible for generating community support and interest for the event.
Rent, utilities, salaries and program expenses are funded exclusively by events like the Fun Run, which makes its success critical to the club’s continued operation.
Registration for Saturday’s run begins at 8:15 a.m., and fees are $30 for adults ages 22 and over, $10 for students ages 14-21, and children 13 and under run free with adult registration.
Harmony Magnet Academy and Strathmore High School students will be providing games to entertain kids while parents are getting registered. Breakfast items, fruit, and waters will be provided for the runners, and Tshirts will also be handed out to the first 100 participants.
Medals will be awarded for first, second and third place finishers in each age division for females and males. Age divisions are 13 and under, 14 to 21, 22 to 30, 31 to 45, 46 to 60, and 61 and over.
There will also be prizes for each of the first place winners in each age division and an overall medal and prize for the fastest male and female winner. Prizes include four bikes donated by Walmart Distribution Center for boy and girl winners in the two youngest age categories, as well as all-day passes for Mcdermont X and gift certificates for El Tapatio and Orange Works for overall winners.
When Tammy Mitchell and Adele Sanchez began a grassroots campaign to establish the club in Strathmore five years ago, they were compelled to do so by personal tragedy. Both had lost family members to homicides suspected of being gang-related, and the murder of Sanchez’s mother remains unsolved to this day.
Adele’s mother Mary Sanchez was murdered during a robbery of her Strathmore family business, La Tienda Market, in 2006, and Mitchell’s son Michael Lopez was lost to gang violence in 2012.
It was after Michael’s death in 2013 that the two contacted the Boys and Girls Club of the Sequoias located in Exeter for information on opening a club in Strathmore.
They set out to keep Strathmore youth engaged and active in the hours after school and away from scenarios where they might be recruited or otherwise tempted to become involved in gang activities. It took two years to raise the necessary funds to open the Club, but the doors officially opened in June of 2015.
Since then, the club has made a difference every day after school by providing programs filled with athletic, academic and community improvement activities. Each day after school, 30 to 35 Strathmore children ages 9 to 14 receive tutoring and participate in arts and crafts, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects and sporting events.
“This club is here to help our youth and prepare them for everyday challenges they might face. It’s a place for them to come after school and during the summer instead of being out on the streets,” said Lisa Hernandez, Strathmore Boys and Girls Club site director.
Sponsors for this year’s Fun Run include Dennis Hylton, CPA, Victor Ceballos, E.M. Tharp, Martin’s Tire and Auto Service, Carroll’s Tire Warehouse, Just Like Home, Mangini and Associates, Starr Warson, Family Health Care Network, Tulare County Board of Supervisors, Trans Quest, Central Valley Auto Transport, Miller Brothers T-shirts, Walmart Distribution Center, and Wonderful Pistachios.
Many local businesses and community members have also contributed waters, bakery items, and prizes for the event.
In past years the event has raised between seven and eight thousand dollars for the club, but this year they have experienced an outpouring of support like never before.
“It’s been like an upward spiral. Everyone we’ve asked to support us this year has been so giving,” said Grasmick. “We’ve already raised $14,000 in donations from sponsors, and that doesn’t include any registration fees collected Saturday.”