We sure had a great time last Friday at the 2016 Birney Bears Jog-A-Thon to benefit Terry’s House! kindergarden through 6th graders were surprised by a balloon arch starting line and lots of fun surprise visitors throughout the event, including our very own, Community Regional CEO, Craig Wagoner! Boy, is there is something really SPECIAL about watching hundreds of kiddos running their hearts out to support our families! The teeny, tiny kindergarteners shuffling across the starting line to their favorite kickoff song was quite the SUPER CUTE sight to see!  

Check out all the photos from the 2016 Birney Bears Jog-A-Thon!
 
Last week, we even had an opportunity to participate in the final training day run and to visit each classroom to meet the kids! We helped collect the Jog-A-Thon sponsorship envelopes containing the money each child was able to raise … amounts from $1 to over $130 were carefully tucked inside each envelope and these little ones could not have been more proud to show us what they did to help Terry’s House! Talk about a melt-your-heart moment!
 
I am so thrilled that these sweet little Bears not only ran over 400 combined miles and met their fundraising goal from last year, but exceeded it by $107 for a grand total of $2,778 donated to our home-away-from-home!!! That’s nearly 93 nights of lodging for the families who call Terry’s House, “Home!"
 
The coolest thing about Mr. Robert Garcia and the walk/run program at Birney, is not just their ability to give these kids a before and afterschool outlet, or getting them excited about running, health and exercise. It’s not even the coolest thing that together, they can help these kids set goals and achieve them. What’s most important here … what’s really inspiring is Mr. Garcia’s ability to teach these kids about giving back, to teach them about community and about taking care of others! Not only has he done these things, but he’s also taught them to run for something bigger than themselves. He’s taught this important lifelong lesson and challenged them to create positive change for each other and for this city. I am in awe of this man’s mission to help kids, to give back and to impact families across the globe through Terry’s House. Our hats are off to you, Mr. Garcia and to all of your quick stepping Birney Bears again this year! Thank you for ALL of the steps you’ve taken to ensure your kids are the best that they can be and that Terry’s House is here for years to come! What a beautiful thing!
 
Christa Short
Director, Terry’s House