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Date: 11/29/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Food Pantry is hosting their fifth annual Holiday Fun Run at Ledges Golf Course on Dec. 11 to raise money as the winter season nears.
Event Director Melissa Hine has lived in South Hadley throughout her whole life and teaches sixth and seventh grade math at Smith Middle School. Growing up, Hines got involved with running through an after-school program and found a hobby she loves and has kept up with since.
As an avid runner herself, Hines uses her passion now as a way to get her students involved and learn about the benefits of running and cardiovascular exercise. Hines started an after school running program for her students after realizing there was nothing like it available for them and has used the program as an introduction to running and the sport of racing that comes with it.
“I felt like all the kids did was just run around the block and I felt like they needed a race to kind of kickstart that passion that I had for running and that’s really the thing,” Hines said. “Racing’s the best part of the activity of running, so I decided that I would just put on my own race that was mainly geared toward drawing in children but then also to have it open to the community.”
Thinking of how she could use her own event like this to raise money for a good cause, Hines father came to her with the idea to raise the money for the South Hadley Food Pantry. Hines’s father worked for the Food Pantry and thought his daughter’s attempt at a new charitable event would be a great fit in raising money for the work the pantry does.
Hines added the fun run donating raised money to the pantry also allows for children involved to learn about what the pantry does and its services. After the event and once the amounts raised are final, a check is presented to the pantry in front of students at the middle school. This gives more insight to students on how the pantry works and an example of how money is being raised and allocated to them.
A fun twist on the race event is runners registered are encouraged to dress up in a holiday-themed costume or outfit to run the race in. Awards will be given out to runners including awards to top male and female runners, top male and female in each age group and top three most festive outfits.
Bib pickup for runners is on race day and runners must go inside the Ledges Golf Course Club House, located at 18 Mulligan Dr., between 9:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. to receive their bib.
The event starts at 11 a.m. and post-race donuts and hot chocolate will be served to those registered. Those registered by Dec. 4 will receive a Holiday Fun Run t-shirt with entry. To register, you can go to https://shfoodpantryfunrun.wordpress.com. Registration leading up to the event is $20 and Race Day registration is $25. Children 12 and under can register for $15.
For more information, Hines can be reached at melissa.hines10@gmail.com.
Hines hopes the community makes their way out to the Fun Run and thanked any runners who are registering for their support to the Food Pantry. She also added she hopes that the children involved create a great experience running and participating in a race.
“We see kids and they’re so active but then running is seen as a punishment, right? That’s my hobby, I love racing,” Hines said. “I want them to see that running and racing, whenever they start racing, they start off and they go so fast and then they die [of energy] before finishing the race. I feel like it’s symbolic for everything they go through in life.”