CAPS will hold its second annual 5K and walk on veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Last year, the proceeds were donated solely to the Wounded Warrior Project. However, this year, the proceeds of the event will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Massachusetts Red Sox home based program.
Armando Hernandez, an FGCU graduate and the program manager for the Massachusetts Red Sox home based program, participated in the event last year. He contacted Kelly Rubin, substance abuse counselor for CAPS, to look into fundraising for his organization this year.
“We thought it was a great way to give back to our local community, since 40 percent of the home-based program are FGCU students,” Rubin said.
Hernandez has helped with this year’s organization of the event, specifically with marketing and advertising.
“We have met a couple of times,” Rubin said. “He has contacted student volunteers and spread the word in the community.”
People can run or walk in the event. Check-in will begin at 8 a.m.
Last year, free t-shirts were given to attendees, and this year new t-shirts are in the making so that the process can be repeated.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, 130 participants had registered for the event. Rubin said she hopes to get 150 people to register.
“There were less than 40 people registered last year at this time,” Rubin said. “Then we got a huge influx of people in the days leading up to the event.”
The registration fee is $10 for active or retired military and $15 for anyone from the general community. Anyone interested can find more info here.
“It’s really important to recognize that our local heroes are students that might be sitting next to us in class,” Rubin said, “And it’s important to pay tribute to them and to say thank you for all of the sacrifices they made.”
Rubin said the event was not funded by the university last year, and this year it’s planning to keep it that way.
“We did all of that with community donations,” Rubin said. “We’re trying to keep our cost low for us, so that we can donate everything we get.”
Rubin said $3,000 was raised last year, and the fundraising goal for this year is $5,000.