Butterfly Run on May 4 to benefit children in need

The 13th Annual Butterfly run being held May 4 at Springbrook Park in Alcoa will help some of East Tennessee’s biggest miracles by partnering with Friends of Tennessee’s Babies with Special Needs.

Proceeds from this year’s event will go to support Friends of Tennessee’s Babies with Special Needs, an organization that works to enhance the potential of infants and young children with disabilities by offering support to their families and the early intervention professionals who serve them.

“This will be a first for our organization as we’ve never hosted a run before,” said FOTB Director Robin Hamrick. “We’ve worked tirelessly with the past race coordinator to help continue the tradition of this charitable run while also trying to create new opportunities for our special needs community.”

This will be a timed USATF Certified 3K course; in addition, there will be an accessible 1 mile walk and wheelchair course called The Celebration Walk. A family-friendly fun area, Butterfly Cove, will have sensory friendly activities provided by Blount Pediatric Rehabilitation, craft projects from Home Depot, face painting from Clayton Bradley Academy, and more.

Friends of Tennessee’s Babies with Special Needs was founded in 1995 by a group of friends and parents who were discussing the vast requirements of children with special needs in East Tennessee. They realized that even the wonderful services of the best agencies serving this population were not enough. They started recruiting friends with specialized skills to volunteer to bridge the gap.

The 3K Butterfly Run begins at 8:30 a.m. and the Celebration Walk begins at 9:30 a.m. The race is being sponsored in part by Axle Logistics and WBIR. Registration and race information can be found at www.helpingbabies.org.