South Fayette Glow Run raises $25,000 for childhood cancer
Jacob Calvin Meyer/The Almanac
About 1,000 people participated in the Glow Run.
Jacob Calvin Meyer/The Almanac
A group of South Fayette youngsters sprint to start the one-mile race.
Jacob Calvin Meyer/The Almanac
Parents giving hi-fives to kids running by during the one-mile race.
Jacob Calvin Meyer/The Almanac
About 1,000 South Fayette residents, both young and old, went to South Fayette High School’s track strapped with glow sticks and ran to raise money for childhood cancer.
Jacob Calvin Meyer/The Almanac
The start of the 5K race, which started on the track and wrapped all the way around South Fayette’s campus.
About 1,000 South Fayette residents, both young and old, went to South Fayette High School’s track strapped with glow sticks and ran to raise money to help fight childhood cancer.
South Fayette’s fifth annual Glow Run June 2, which is run by the high school’s student government, raised $25,400 for Four Diamonds, a charitable organization at Penn State Children’s Hospital that funds pediatric cancer research.
In addition to the approximately 1,000 runners, a few hundred more people came to cheer on the runners participating in the one-mile or the 5K.
With about 16,000 residents in South Fayette, Sreeja Gangineni, student government class president and chair of the Glow Run committee, said having that many people at Glow Run shows it is a “community event.”
“It’s not just about the teachers and the students; it’s literally about the whole community,” she said. “Everyone is here. Everyone wants to help out. Without them, there wouldn’t be this event. It’s all going to a great cause, and it shows that they care and that they want to support us. It means so much that they come out here.”
This is the first year Glow Run has benefited Four Diamonds, as in the past the event’s proceeds went to Children’s Hospital.
“We have another event, mini-THON, that goes to Four Diamonds, so we thought we’d combine forces and pull all of our resources together and focus on one charity,” said Dan Ball, student government advisor in charge of the Glow Run event.
Bal said the group of a dozen students on the Glow Run committee put a lot of work into the project and begin planning the event on the first day of school.
“One thing that’s unbelievable is that the students care about things beyond themselves,” Bal said. “They’re doing this, not for a grade and not to pad their resumes, but because they know the effect of the money raised here has on kids who are in a lot more need than they are.”
Bal said what the students at South Fayette, both with the Glow Run event and mini-THON, are able to put together shows they’re “selfless.”
“The one thing that really does amaze me is the sympathy and empathy that the students have here,” Bal said. “They’re always willing to sacrifice their time for things that are bigger than themselves.”