6:30am | In their quest to provide support and assistance to Long Beach children experiencing homelessness, local non-profit organization Children Today will hold its second annual 5K/10K run event this weekend to raise funds for its programs. The 5K/10K will take place at the Belmont Pool this Saturday. Runners can still register and can even sign up on race day, albeit at an elevated fee.
Click here to register.
Last year’s event welcomed 387 runners and raised more than $30,000. This year, organizers expect even more participants and hope for a financial boost as well.
“All of the proceeds go toward providing childcare and additional services to homeless children of Long Beach,” said Josh Lowenthal, President of Children Today.
“We are only able to serve a fraction of the homeless children in Long Beach. The more money we raise, the more homeless children we can serve.”
The event has been a great success for being only in its second year, and event sponsor FreeConferenceCall.com deserves much of the credit. The Long Beach-based company provides conference calling services and was eager to get involved with Children Today last year.
“I can’t imagine the type of trauma that a child experiencing homelessness goes though,” said David Erickson, CEO of FreeConferenceCall.com. “That’s where Children Today comes in and can help end the cycle of homelessness.”
Erickson and FreeConferenceCall.com stepped up even more this year, reaching out to customers for donations, encouraging employees to compete with each other during the race and pledging to match the total number of donations.
“Without their support we simply wouldnt be bale to do this,” says Lowenthal. “It gives us the legs to really go out and make this a broader event for the community at large.”