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Bringing a Community Together: Grace Race 2014

Jun 2, 2014

The story below appeared in the GraceConnect eNews, No. 49, Week of May 26, 2014. Click here for the results of the 2014 Grace Race.

It’s so much more than a 5k.

And the whole community thinks so.

This Memorial Day, the 4th Annual Grace Race 5k is taking place at Copley High School in northern Ohio. Organized by the Bath Campus of Grace Church of Greater Akron (Jeff Bogue, senior pastor), the proceeds of the race go to benefit Feed My Starving Children.

“We’re always looking for ways to help people from the community get connected to the church,” said Joe Caruso, pastor of mobilization at Grace Church. “The Grace Race started as a way for us to perpetuate two things: a way to get the community involved and to push forward our involvement with the Feed My Starving Children initiative.”

The two groups have been partnering in the race for four years, with a yearly turnout of close to 500 runners and 75 participants in the fitness challenge, a fun add-on involving team exercises like body-weight drills, running up hills, and other challenges. They raise almost $10,000 yearly for Feed My Starving Children.This event is an opportunity for many groups throughout the Akron community to work together for a joint cause. The race’s popularity has grown so much that its previous location at Grace Church is too small. It will be hosted at a local high school.

“Each year we have around a hundred volunteers who help pull off the event,” said Caruso. “And we partner with an organization called Rahab Ministries in Akron that ministers to women who were previously prostitutes or incarcerated. It is a way for us to instill value and worth into these women. They love participating. There’s actual joy on their faces. It’s really neat to see.”

In addition to raising money for Feed My Starving Children, the church hosts an event during which volunteers pack thousands of inexpensive, yet scientifically-backed, nourishing meals that could save children’s lives. The packets are designed to provide complete nutrition for people without a reliable food source.

“We love that the Feed My Starving Children events are another way to allow people to come and be a part of what we’re doing,” notes Caruso. “Anyone can help—even kids as young as seven can actually be a solid volunteer.”

“Grace Race is a great event that has a lot of visibility outside of the Grace community, so drawing new people is a huge positive,” said Paul Vespoli, Grace Race participant and volunteer. “Beyond that, [working with] Feed My Starving Children is a direct way . . . we can reach out to individuals who desperately need the expression of God’s love that we can provide in the form of a meal. What better way to express love for someone than to feed them, especially if they are hungry?”The church has reached out to involve the entire community in their process of raising money for Feed My Starving Children, and they also encourage church members to give generously as they are involved.

The church also sponsors mission trips with CPR-3 to Haiti, where volunteers have had the opportunity to distribute the Feed My Starving Children meals. It allows them to see the process—fundraising through Grace Race, packing the meals, and seeing them distributed—come full circle.

This story first appeared in GraceConnect eNews. To subscribe to the weekly e-newsletter that includes news and information from congregations in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, click here.
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