Three local charitable organizations benefited from the proceeds of this year’s Joplin Memorial Run.
Checks were presented Friday for $10,161 each to Rebuild Joplin, the United Way of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas, and Bright Futures.
Audie Dennis, the run’s outgoing co-director, said that was the proceeds from registration fees, merchandise sales and sponsorships after paying the bills for the event.
Active Lifestyle Events Inc., which organizes the run, had already donated $3,000 to the three organizations that came from $50 donations runners made beyond the entry fees.
Dennis said the event started nine years ago with the Festival of the Four States, which later became Boomtown Days. It was named the Boomtown Run and was held in conjunction with the festival. The event was renamed the Joplin Memorial Run in remembrance of the victims of the EF-5 tornado that struck May 22, 2011, and claimed 161 lives.
When the race started, there were about 150 who participated. This year the race attracted 2,963 participants with about 1,000 came from outside the Joplin area, Dennis said.
“To see 3,000 runners this year sent chills down your spine,” Dennis said of the event’s growth. He commended the assistance of a number of sponsors and volunteers. Freeman Health Systems and American Family Insurance were the main sponsors.
Dennis two weeks ago presented the city with a flag that was carried in the race and was signed by the runners. It will hang in City Hall.
“I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to who signed up to the do this run one time last year to honor someone they knew who died in the tornado and have been running since,” turning it into a family activity and a lifestyle, Dennis said. “It’s changed many lives.”
Ruth Sawkins has been co-director, and she will take the reins for next year’s event.
She said Friday that the next run will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Registration for it will open Sept. 1 at www.joplinmemorialrun.com. There will be a half-marathon, 5K and Kids Run next year.
Race organizers intend for the event to become connected to a future tornado memorial or museum, and eventually proceeds will go to support that, Sawkins said.
Volunteers
There were 200 volunteers who staffed the course of the run this year, attended to the start and finish lines, and organized a post-race party for runners.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Proceeds of Joplin Memorial Run donated to three area charities
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
-
-
FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
-
SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
-
Therapy dogs
Any question that Louie was bred to put people as ease is put to rest when the golden retriever trots over to where a visitor sits and puts his head on their knee, the dog’s eyes filled with a gentle affection.
-
Nova Kluseman and Jeanne Morrow
Nova Kluseman has staked her claim on Wednesdays at the Mercy medical office clinics where she volunteers. The staff at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri will know it’s Thursday when they see Jeanne Morrow walk through the door.
-
Greentree Community Church
Every two months, Joplin plays host to some now-familiar faces. They’re members of Greentree Community Church in St. Louis, and they have “adopted” the city as one of their mission projects since the tornado.
-
Virginia Laas
Virginia Laas isn’t an accountant or bookkeeper by trade. But when the tornado caused significant damage to Joplin Schools, and subsequently spurred a massive landslide of donations to the district, Laas voluntarily stepped into those roles to fill a need that administrators were too busy to handle.
-
Rebecca Williams
Two years after the tornado, Rebecca Williams remains committed to helping people around the world keep up with the progress that has been made in Joplin.
-
Community Outreach Team
While it didn’t yet have a formal name, the seeds of Freeman Health System’s Community Outreach Team were planted in the hours following the tornado.
-
Jewish Disaster Response Corps
“Tikkun olam” is Hebrew for “repairing the world,” and the concept — of service to others, of helping those in need — is prevalent in Judaism.
-
Dorothy Maples
Dorothy Maples always felt a calling to volunteer, whether it was participating in a fundraiser or giving a hand to help someone in need.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
-
