I did a blog post about this event back in August 2015. It describes a little more about #no1leftbehind and Welcome Home, Inc. and why we decided to do this 5k.
I have several thank you's to give so please be patient as I cover everything and everyone....
CO-ORGANIZER:
Jacki Swank... I just wanted to publicly thank my rock star co-organizer for her hard work, dedication and leadership on this 5k! Jacki certainly kept us both on our toes to make sure every single detail was taken care of. While she doesn't really "do" Facebook she worked tirelessly behind the scenes and brought the whole cowbell on race day! I couldn't have had a better person to do this event with and I appreciate everything you did to make this event rock! (She is the one that kept many of us looking awesome with custom tu-tu's... because she is that thoughtful!) {insert high five here}
SPONSORS:
Without some really awesome sponsors this event wouldn't have been near as successful. Because of these sponsorships it allowed 100% of each race registration to go directly to Welcome Home, Inc. and the #no1leftbehind Capital Campaign to truly make a difference in the lives of our veterans who are currently homeless and living at Welcome Home, Inc.
Midway Electric, Inc.
Friends of Welcome Home, Inc.
(Sponsored the #no1leftbehind 5k Run/Walk)
Gene Koepke and Deb Hermann
Mary Paulsell and Michael Polley
FastSigns
Midwest Mailing
WATER SPONSOR:
Rock Bridge Hy-Vee
FRUIT SPONSOR:
VOLUNTEERS:
We were extremely lucky to have the support from three wonderful military organizations willing to lend a hand to helping us on race day. We certainly couldn't have pulled this event off without them and we are so appreciative of everything they have done for us. Thank you!
FINISHER MEDALS:
We knew early on that we wanted some awesome finisher medals for this race. We also wanted to add a "virtual" option on this race as well so that anyone that wanted to participate would be able to. Virtual races are becoming very popular and you can read about them in a blog post I did:
Special thanks to Jost Running for designing and making these sweet finisher medals! Y'all did an awesome job of helping us to come up with something unique for this race!
T-SHIRTS:
We wanted something really unique and different for our t-shirts. I think Universi-T's surpassed our expectations! They did an awesome job with the logo design and we loved the feel of the t-shirts!
(front of the t-shirts)
(back of the t-shirts)
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Thank you to Fogle Point Photography for being our official #no1leftbehind 5k Run/Walk photographer! She will have pictures towards the end of the week so please keep a watch on the Facebook Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/1024411374238032/ for details!
DRUM LINE AND NATIONAL ANTHEM:
A huge thank you to the Columbia College Drum Line for an awesome motivation to the start/finish line as well as the unique start to the race! You all certainly raised the bar in 5k's and were totally awesome! Thank you all! Columbia College also provided us with our National Anthem singer and he did an amazing job! (I have lost my notes so please forgive me on his name)
SUPPORTERS / DONORS / PARTICIPANTS:
This is pretty much everyone else.... THANK YOU! Each and every single one of you jumped on board to support this wonderful event. Many of you this was your very first 5k... Congratulations! While several of you told us early on that you couldn't run (walking 3.1 miles is the same distance as running 3.1 miles) which was totally fine. You got out of your comfort zones to support our veterans and that speaks volumes! For those of you that ran this event... You all are simply amazing and have too much energy! (Just kidding) Great job! I know you pushed hard and yet every single person that crossed that finish line had a huge smile on their face.... a moment of pride that you did it! We couldn't have done this event without you so thank you for pressuring your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers into doing this race!
In closing I would also like to take a moment and say thank you to my mom, Marsue Crews and our employee, Nicole Ettleman for jumping in there and helping to stuff the 200 swag bags, stuff bags with t-shirts and race bibs as well as help with registration Friday night and Saturday morning. We couldn't be in 12 places at once and I greatly appreciate you both for helping us out!
No matter if you were a virtual runner/walker or you participated in the actual race on Saturday October 24, 2015 you can know that we couldn't have done it without you! I know I keep repeating myself but seriously.... you guys/gals are what made this event so successful and we thank you!
Scott and Shannon Schaefer, thank you so much for working last minute to capture the image that we wanted to use for this race. It's absolutly perfect! Y'all rock too!
While we don't have the exact total of money that will be donated to Welcome Home, Inc. and the #no1leftbehind Capital Campaign (we are waiting for a couple more checks to come in from the online registration) we do know that we have exceed our original goal of $5,000 but we are still shy of our extended goal of $10,000 (after costs are taken out). No matter the number between $5,000 and $10,000 the point is that we made an impact in the lives of those that are currently living at Welcome Home, Inc. and who have served our country with honor. We are all doing our part to help end veteran homelessness in our community by contributing to this campaign through fundraisers just like this 5k.... Thank you!
*I have tried to thank every person and while I am human I may have forgotten someone. Please forgive me and know that you are appreciated- Thank you! *
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