Students in the Ohio State College of Social Work are attempting to raise awareness about poverty in central Ohio during Sunday’s holiday.
Starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, runners will participate in the Fight Against Poverty 5K at Fred Beekman Park, and all proceeds will benefit local settlement houses.
The race will consist of laps around the park’s path, which is just more than one mile, and the top male and female finishers will win a $25 gift certificate to Front Runner. Other post-race festivities include trophy ceremonies for the top three finishers from each gender category and a special Mother’s Day gift for participants who bring their moms. Free bagels and cream cheese from Spinelli’s Deli, water and Powerade will also be available.
“Our goal for this first year is one hundred people,” said Emily Kananen, an organizer of the event. “Anything over would be really great though.”
The idea for the race first sparked this past winter and she and fellow graduate student in the College of Social Work, Chelsie Giambrone, went to the College of Social Work Student Association (CSWSA) with their idea.
“Poverty’s a big issue in our community and they said ‘let’s do something about it,'” said Elon Simms, a licensed social worker and president of CSWSA. “We all were able to relate to being out running along the (Olentangy) trails and seeing camps all along the river. Seeing that pushed us to want to do something about it.”
CSWSA has quarterly projects each year which have included a food drive for Thanksgiving and adopting a family around Christmas time. Although CSWSA spearheads the events, the general public is welcome to volunteer to help the cause.
They dedicated efforts for this quarter’s projects to the race and decided to donate all proceeds to Columbus Federation of Settlements (CFS) houses.
“I said ‘gee, this sounds like a great idea!'” said Louise Alluis, executive director of CFS.
She said this is one of the largest events coordinated by OSU students for the organization and mentioned successful partnerships in the past with OSU.
“It couldn’t come at a better time,” Alluis said, citing severe funding cutbacks. “Not a lot of resources and a lot of demand.”
She said that from 2008-09 the amount of people the Settlement Houses assisted increased 25 percent.
According to the CFS website, Settlement Houses first came to New York City in 1886 to serve immigrants and have been in Columbus since 1899. They traditionally focus on impoverished neighborhoods at a grassroots level and take a holistic approach, putting responsibility in the hands of leaders and organizations indigenous to the individual neighborhoods.
“Unlike other service providers that focus on a particular problem, the Settlement Houses are a neighborhood hub and focus on the needs of the areas they serve,” Alluis said.
Although no specific projects have been allocated from the money raised from the race, Alluis mentioned food pantries, staff development, future meetings and summer youth programs as possible candidates.
“There are so many needs,” she said.
Registration for the race is available online through Saturday at premierraces.com and on-site Sunday from 8 a.m. to race time.
Entry fees are $20 and include an event T-shirt.
