There will be all kinds of motion by folks of all ages in Mike Weir Park in Sarnia’s Bright’s Grove Sunday morning with the return of the Huron House Boys’ Home’s annual Father’s Day fundraiser.
There will be all kinds of motion by folks of all ages in Mike Weir Park in Sarnia’s Bright’s Grove Sunday morning with the return of the Huron House Boys’ Home’s annual Father’s Day fundraiser.
It will be the home’s 35th Run/Walk/Skate/Bike event and the first held in person since the pandemic began.
The event historically fills the lakefront park with hundreds of participants and volunteers on Father’s Day mornings for events that include running, walking, cycling and inline skating.
It wasn’t held in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions and switched to a virtual event in 2021.
“We’re really excited to get back out there with this event,” said Heidi Vallinga, fundraising and events co-ordinator with the boys’ home. “We really hope as many people as possible can join us.”
Registration will be accepted online until Thursday evening while in-person registration will be available at the park on the morning of the events. Information is available online at hhbh.ca.
Vallinga said event representatives will be at Lambton Mall Friday from 6 pm to 8 pm and Saturday from noon to 4 pm to take registrations.
“We have tons of last-minute sign-ups coming in,” she said.
As of Monday, about 300 participants were registered, but “my email is constantly dinging with more registrations,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll hit at least 400.”
The day’s events include a 5-kilometre run and walk, a 7-km bike and skate “that is really popular with a lot of families” and a 10-km run, as well as 20-km and 40-km cycling events, she said.
“On top of that, we have the Junior Adrenaline Trail, which is a free event for kids four to 10,” Vallinga said.
“We also cook up breakfast for everybody,” she said. “We have pancakes and sausages available when everybody finishes their run, walk, skate or bike.”
The event has a “fantastic core committee of volunteers,” along with a “ton” of other volunteers working in the park on Father’s Day serving as race marshals, cooking and serving breakfast, directing traffic and manning water stops.
“It is a huge undertaking,” Vallinga said.
The event begins early, with the first group leaving the starting line at 7:45 am
Last year’s virtual Father’s Day fundraiser had about 125 participants who raised more than $10,000, “which was amazing,” Vallinga said.
“Those people were so keen that they raised about the same amount in pledges as we usually do in a regular year with about 400 or 500 participants.”
This year’s goal for the event is $15,000, which “would be amazing” and help make up for some of the lost income from the last few years” due to the pandemic’s impact on fundraisers and donations, she said.
The home runs two mail fundraising campaigns annually, as well as its Men Who Cook fundraiser in March, which had to be canceled this year, and the Father’s Day event in the park.
“We are funded in part by the government, but it’s not enough to cover all of our expenses,” Vallinga said.
The Huron House Boys Home is a live-in treatment center for adolescent boys with complex mental-health needs. It has operated in Bright’s Grove since the early 1970s.
“I’ve just been amazed with the response” from the community to the needs of the home, Vallinga said.