It’s being held on Saturday, June 23, 2018.
FREDERICK, MD. (LG) The Frederick Summer Solstice Twilight 8K race is coming up. “The event is on the night of June 23rd, at 7:30 p.m., and it’s being held out by the airport on Buckheimer Road, in Frederick,” said Alex Young, race director.
The Summer Solstice typically heralds the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The event will kick off the summer by racing an 8k to help benefit Blessings in a Backpack. “Blessings in a Backpack provides food for children on the weekends who might otherwise go hungry without school meals,” he continued.
On their website it states that Blessings in a Backpack, Frederick is a local chapter of the national 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Through an all-volunteer network, BIAB mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends and over school breaks for school children who might otherwise go hungry when school meals are unavailable.
BIAB provides weekend backpacks of food to children who depend on school meals as their primary source of nourishment Monday through Friday. Every Friday, more than 16 million American children leave school uncertain if they will have food to eat over the weekend. That’s 65 hours from lunch in school on Friday to breakfast Monday morning…65 hours without proper nutrition…65 hours!
In Frederick County, more than 11,000 children (27% of all students) are fed by the Free And Reduce-priced Meal program every week, but, “What do they do on the weekends?” The food provided by BIAB offers a greater opportunity for these children to return to school better prepared to participate and learn. BIAB Frederick currently serves 2,500+ children in 19 local schools. It costs only $100 to feed a single child each weekend for an entire 38-week school year and 100% of the money raised is used to feed local Frederick children.
The Summer Solstice Race is sponsored by the Frederick Steeplechasers Running Club. The race will be run on a USATF certified 8K course in Frederick. “This is the 3rd year that the Summer Solstice has benefited Blessings in a Backpack. We were able to raise $34,000 in the first two years and we are looking to raise $20,000 in this year’s event to help feed kids,” Young continued.
To register for the race log on to www.frederickss8k.com.
-Loretta Gaines