Bring the entire family to Heritage Middle School on Saturday morning, October 22, when the Westerville Hunger Heroes 5K & 1-Mile Fun Run will take place. All proceeds raised will go directly to feeding children in Westerville through the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (WARM), ShareBacAPac and Otterbein University’s Promise House. Heritage is located at 390 North Spring Road. Register at www.otterbein.edu/hungerrun.
The Westerville Hunger Heroes 5k and 1-Mile fun run was created by students at Otterbein University and Westerville City Schools’ Best of Both Worlds program. The students volunteer for ShareBacAPac, a program that strives to provide “healthy foods and snacks to children who, due to unforeseen family circumstances are at risk of hunger on non-school days when free/reduced school meal programs are not available.” Last year alone, Otterbein students, faculty, staff and community volunteers packed more than 5,000 food bags for Westerville children. As the amount of children in need continues to increase and because the ShareBacAPac program is funded entirely by donations and grants, Otterbein pupils created the Westerville Hunger Heroes 5k and 1-Mile fun run to raise additional awareness and support about the hunger issue in their community.
The ShareBacAPac program, founded by Otterbein graduate Sherry Williamson and her daughter Brandy Wampler, recently partnered with WARM, a local organization focused on supporting community outreach and helping people become self-sufficient. Otterbein University’s Promise House is a student led organization that works to “alleviate the challenges associated with food insecurity so that students can remain in school and earn their degrees.” Services that the Promise House offers to students include: a community café, campus food pantry, referrals to community resources, peer advocacy, volunteer opportunities, and educational workshops.