Student and faculty philanthropists walk for others' warmth

The 5k Walk/Run for Warmth held Saturday demonstrated students' willingness to come together to raise money for the Warming House."Everyone felt that it was a success," Trevor Thompson, coordinator of the Warming House and associate university minister, said.

The race raised $582.97, which was presented to the Warming House Thursday.

"The money will go into a general fund for the Warming House. Hopefully we will be able to gather a few donations, because we are in need of a new van so that we can transport students and guests to the house," Thompson said.

By donating $5, students, faculty and guests from the community could participate in the race. In response to their gift, each participant received a maroon bracelet with the Warming House's motto: "Community, dignity and nourishment."

"The bracelet was to give back to them for their donations so that they could look down at their wrists as a constant reminder of the event," Matt Geer, a senior marketing major, said, "Everyone seemed to love them."

Undergraduate students Geer, Jena Killion, Chris Grys, Bryan Schoff and Meghan Kennedy and grad student Andrew Radzavich from Michael Russell's, associate professor of marketing, Event Marketing class organized the event.

"This event was organized for a class project that started at the beginning of the semester," Geer said. "By meeting twice a week, we were able to get it organized so that nothing was rushed."

The event began at 12:30 p.m., with a speech by Thompson on the history and values the Warming House was built around. With a "'Rready, set, go!" the 50 competitors were off at 1 p.m. for the race.

"Everyone had fun because of the relaxed atmosphere that day," Radzavich said.

To advertise the event, group members sat at a table in the Reilly Center on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to draw attention to the fundraiser. Fliers and a commercial on WSBU 88.3 FM The Buzz helped advertise the event to gain participants.

"My first reaction when hearing about the event was that they should have organized a 10k instead of a 5k. In retrospect, a 10k might not have been a good idea considering the wide variety of running ability among the participants," Peter Aldridge, a junior accounting major, said.

Aldridge won the 5k race in 25:56. "It felt good to win the race, despite the fact that the event was not highly competitive," Aldridge said.

Aldridge said he hopes due to the success of the event, it may become an annual tradition. and that participation increases in future years.

"The turnout this year was great, but if this becomes an annual event, I would like to see even more people out there running next year," Aldridge said. "Also, I hope Dr. Russell knows what an excellent job these students did organizing and carrying out this event."

"This event was meant to be an awareness builder that involved the Franciscan values," Thompson said. "I really want to give credit to the students for organizing this amazing event.