Next Saturday the Downtown Rocks and Runs return to Mount Airy for its sixteenth edition, which this year is marketing itself using the smiling face of one of Mayberry’s favorites sons Ernest T. Bass.
Organizers said there is still time to sign up for individual and team races, to be held on August 10, which last year raised more than $32,000 in the kickoff to the fundraising campaign for the United Fund of Surry and its member organizations.
Downtown Rocks and runs had approximately 200 people signed up to take to the streets for the 5K, 10K, and Kids’ Fun Run but Melissa Hiatt, United Fund of Surry’s executive director, said the old saying is true, “The more the merrier.”
“We are still in need of runners. Last year we had 346 participants, and we would like to see that number again,” she said. “There are always runners who register in the last 24 hours.”
So far, the majority of interest has been in the 5k race with 150 runners signed up as of Tuesday and 41 have signed up to take part in the 10k. Hiatt noted those numbers may have risen since she last checked the registration stats.
More runners mean more opportunities for the United Fund of Surry to raise funds which will help offer ever more services to area residents. In a recent end-of-year summary report, Hiatt said that United Fund of Surry member organizations such Yokefellow Ministries, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts, and Mount Airy Rescue Squad provide services to more than one-third of the county’s over 71,000 residents.
The needs continue to grow, and more people are in need of assistance, so the annual goal set by the United Fund of Surry has been growing year to year as well. Hiatt explained, “This year’s goal is $575,000. That is an increase of $25,000 from last year’s goal.”
As the needs have grown, she said the roster of member organizations for the United Fund of Surry has grown as well. “We admitted one new agency into our membership this year and need to address so many new issues in our community,” Hiatt said. The organization she said added Helping Hands Ministry onto its roster of agencies.
“Downtown Rocks & Runs is the kickoff event for our campaign season and sets the pace for the next eight months of the campaign.”
Last year the campaign was helmed by Traci George and raised a tidy $559,371 for member organizations. At the celebration party in May marking the end of the campaign, Hiatt was downright giddy to inform that George would be holding onto the reins of the campaign for the 2024-2025 edition.
Hiatt said she set a target that before she leaves the organization, to have that goal eclipse $1 million. “I would love for us to get to where we’re raising a million dollars a year. I did the math and at $50,000 increments, that’s nine years and I’ll be 66 years old — I’m not staying until I’m 66.”
Also serving with George on the campaign committee are Ashley Moorefield, Sam Holder, Angel Haynes, Denise Brown, Steve Yokeley, Darren Lewis, Kendra Griffin, and Emily Cave.
“It was such a blessing for them to agree that we had a good year... and that they could continue to keep going and us raise even more next year,” she said.
Find more information including the course for the race and link to registration at: www.downtownrocksandruns.itsyourrace.com
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