The Tucker Community Foundation’s ‘Run for It’ event, even though virtual, again surpassed expectations as more than 1,065 participants representing 81 community causes walked, ran and fundraised for it.
This year’s event raised over $258,000 for local charities throughout the foundation’s region – Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Preston, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker counties, W.Va. and Garrett County, Md.
Jeff Fellers, Development Director for Run For It, was excited about the number of nonprofits who participated in this years virtual Run For It event.
“This year we had 81 organizations who registered as teams for this fantastic event,” he said. “Rather than groups asking for money for support, these groups engage with the communities and ask other people to walk, run and fundraise for their causes.”
Mike Moore, Executive Director of the Tucker Community Foundation, credited the numerous volunteers along with team captains for the event’s success.
“I have to give the team captains credit for rallying so much support for their organizations,” he said. “They work hard raising money for team sponsorships which they can leverage to get award money.”
“We also have David Cooper, Rachelle Davis, Chris Boyce, Anne Wardell, Skyler Roberts, and Kelly Stadelman on our Run For It committee who freely give up their time to help with the event. We couldn’t do it without them and all their hard work.”
David Cooper, president of the Board of Directors for the Tucker Community Foundation, hosted and awarded money to the winning teams during our zoom virtual awards ceremony. Also helping was Bob Boone of the McDonough Foundation who distributed $25,000 to the charities. Mineral County Commissioner Richard Lechliter distributed $1,000 to the Mineral County teams.
Top awards included Best Team Effort. First place went to YouthBuild North Central WV, second place Challenged Athletes of WV, third place WV Caring, fourth place Appalachian Expeditions, fifth place Garrett Mentors, sixth place Freedom Marchers, seventh place Philippi Public Library Bookworms, eighth place Elkins Bookhounds, ninth place Barbour County Team Health, and tenth place Randolph Tucker Children’s Advocacy Center.
For most money raised, first place went to Garrett Mentors, second place Challenged Athletes of WV, third place St. George Academy Preservation, fourth place YouthBuild North Central WV, fifth place West Virginia Caring, and sixth place Travis Phillip Moreland Foundation.
New this year was a team photo/collage award category, we received a lot of great submissions and it was very hard to choose. Awards for this category, first place went to Randolph County Climb, Inc., second place Challenged Athletes of WV, third place St. George Academy Preservation, fourth place Running for Rotary, fifth place Elkins Bookhounds, sixth place New Vision, and seventh place Garrett Mentors.
Moore said the team award totals will be tallied and distributed to teams by mid-November. For a complete list of the awards, distribution and a video of the virtual awards ceremony results visit www.tuckerfoundation.net/race-results/
Major Run For It sponsors include: St. George Medical Clinic, Mettiki Coal WV, Citizens Bank of WV, Grant County Bank, Cortland Acres, Tucker County Commission, Pocahontas County Commission, Randolph County Commission, Barbour County Commission, Preston County Commission, Grant County Commission, Garrett County Commission, Mineral County Commission, Mike Ross, Inc., PCM Industries, Davis Health System, Best of Canaan, State Farm-Bob Gutshall, GJ Garton Insurance, Preston-Taylor Health Services, Hinkle-Fenner Funeral Home, Edward Jones Investment-Chris Fry, Davis Dental, Miners & Merchants, Canaan Valley Lawn & Landscape, Mountaintop Realty, Boyce Household, Landis Realty, White Grass, Fargo Insurance Group, Blackwater Outdoor Adventures, Hinchcliff, Hanlon Household and Vernon Household.
Since its launch in 2007, Run For It proceeds have surpassed $2.5 Million being distributed to charities throughout the Foundation’s service area. A huge shout out to all of our awesome Run For It Team Captains and racers for making this event a success… we could not do this without all of you!
Mark your calendar for next year, September 24th 2022 for the 16th Annual Run For It Event.
The Tucker Community Foundation manages more than 140 endowed funds providing annual scholarships and grants to nonprofits and charitable causes throughout the eight-county service area. Inspired by the flood of 1985, the mission of the Foundation is to create opportunities for the communities we serve. For more information on Run For It or to learn about the foundation, visit www.tuckerfoundation.net
