The Gritman Medical Foundation is preparing to host its second annual Colors of Hope Fun Run to raise money for the Light A Candle program.
File Photo by Phil Vukelich | Argonaut
Natalie Hardin, junior, runs through the “blue” color station during the Colors of Hope 5k in September 2012. The Colors of Hope will be held in Moscow again Sept. 14.
The program, sponsored by Gritman Medical Center, provides services to cancer patients in Whitman and Latah counties.
“There’s all these costs associated with cancer treatments that insurance doesn’t cover,” said Eric Hollenback, advisory board member for the Light a Candle program.
Hollenback said the money is often used on gift cards for various services such as gas to get to appointments, cleaning services and oncology and massage therapy.
“Things that help enrich the lives of people who are suffering from cancer,” Hollenback said.
The Colors of Hope Fun Run will take place Sept. 14 The race is a five kilometer “color” run on the Latah Trail. Participants are encouraged to wear white T-shirts because at certain points in the race they’ll be covered with colored liquid intended to represent the various types of cancer.
“The first year we did it with dry colors,” said Becky Chavez, co-founder of the program. “This year we’re going to try it with the liquid color, so the colors will be a lot brighter, more fun and wet.”
At the end of the race, a color war will take place consisting of a thicker, mud-like dye.
“We did the color war last year and everybody had fun, so we brought it back again,” Chavez said. “We like to keep our events fun and interactive. You’re supporting a great cause but we want to make it so people are enjoying themselves.”
The Light A Candle program originally hosted only one major fundraiser — a Bunco tournament — but that changed last year with the addition of the color run.
“The advisory board had talked about putting together a second fundraiser,” Hollenback said. “Someone mentioned Colors of Hope and we started brainstorming and thought about different colors representing different cancers and we just thought it was a good fit.”
Early registration for the event is on Gritman Medical Center’s website, but on-site registration will also be available from 7:45 to 8:45 the morning of the event.
“Anyone can do this,” Chavez said. “It’s really fun and family friendly. It’s not timed — it’s just for fun and supporting local cancer patients.”
“We call it a fun run/walk because we have people of all ages and it’s very family oriented,” Hollenback said.
Participants who register early will pay only $30, and on-site registration will cost $35.
“We had a great turn-out last year — around 300 people showed up, and we’re hoping to get more people out here this year for it,” Hollenback said.
The cost of hosting the event is fully funded by Gritman Medical Center, so all donations received — from registration and additional on-sight donations — go to cancer patients in Latah and Whitman County.
Aaron Bharucha can be reached at [email protected]