The St. Michaels Running Festival is pleased to announce the selection of seven official non-profit partners for the 2014 event.
Each non-profit benefits from charitable donations and fundraising from the event.
In the first year, the running festival raised $10,000 for its charity partners. Last year’s event raised about $40,000.
This year’s partners are Talbot Humane, Habitat For Humanity Choptank, St. Martin’s Ministries, Lilabean Foundation, Yellow Ribbon Fund and National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) Maryland Chapter. The St. Michaels Community Center is this year’s flagship charity partner.
St. Martin’s Ministries is new this year as a charity partner – an addition race organizer Peter Paris is proud to include.
“For the past two years, we provided entries through our donation program to women involved with the charity,” Paris said. “For some, running the race proved almost a life-changing experience. We’re firm believers St. Martin’s provides a great service to our community, and we’re pleased to get them more deeply involved.”
Paris said the St. Michaels Running Festival charity selection committee made the selections because the charities fill a cross-section of important needs in the community. Four of the selections are local organizations, and three of the selections – Lilabean Foundation, NMSS and the Yellow Ribbon Fund – are larger, Maryland-based organizations.
The Lilabean Foundation is an organization dedicated to supporting the funding of pediatric brain tumor research. In the past year, the foundation has raised more than $50,000, all of which went to The Brain Tumor Institute at Children’s National Medical Center.
Last year, with the help of sponsor Nationwide Insurance, Lilabean raised more than $14,000 through the St. Michaels Running Festival.
The Yellow Ribbon Fund provides support to injured service members and their families while at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia, and at home. “Yellow Ribbon Fund is basically a wounded warrior program for the families,” said Paris. “That’s touching to me – I really believe in what they do.”
Mark Robbins, executive director of the Yellow Ribbon Fund, said the organization is proud to be a part of the St. Michaels Running Festival again this year.
“Our mission to assist injured service members and their families has been embraced by the Eastern Shore community, and its exciting to see the support we get through SMRF,” Robbins said.
The National MS Society mobilizes people and resources to drive research for a world free of multiple sclerosis (MS), which affects more than 2.3 million worldwide, including 10,000 in Maryland. MS is the number one disabling disease of young adults, often striking when people are starting families and careers.
“We are excited about our partnership with the Saint Michaels Running Festival,” said Mark Roeder, president of the National MS Society, MD Chapter. “We look forward to working with runners, volunteers and the St. Michaels community, with one goal in mind- helping to end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis.”
Each charity partner receives complimentary race entries, listing on the race website and registration platform, space at the event’s pre-race expo. All donations go directly to each charity.
Now in its third year, the St. Michaels Running Festival includes a USATF certified Half Marathon, 10k and 5k through historic St. Michaels. The race is set for May 17, 2014.
The St. Michaels Running Festival is one of the premier destination races in the Mid-Atlantic. The event is managed by Eastern Shore Endurance Events LLC, a partnership between St. Michaels residents Peter Paris and Sparrow Rogers. Visit www.runstm.com for more information.