Celebrate Gaston: 134 nonprofits, live band, thousands coming together Saturday
Community Foundation Run 2023 takes place Saturday, April 1, but there's no joke involved about the purpose.
"It's an opportunity to bring our community together and just celebrate what's great about Gaston County," said Lauren Sease Vanacore, engagement and run director for the Gaston Community Foundation.
Festivities take place from 8 a.m. to noon and are centered around CaroMont Health Park in the FUSE District where the Gastonia Honey Hunters play baseball. The event will bring out the band Big City for shows at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., thousands of spectators, runners and volunteers, concession food and 134 nonprofit agencies hoping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help their causes that benefit Gaston County residents.
The race itself starts at 9 a.m. in the parking area of CaroMont Health Park just beyond the outfield wall.
"The is an ongoing community event that brings people together," Vanacore said. A lot will be going on, from Gaston Dance Theater offering a snippet of its upcoming "Snow White" show to nonprofits setting up booths to raise awareness of their efforts. There will be fun and games also.
This will be the 21st year for the event, but the first year since 2019 for a full event to take place live. The pandemic canceled the run in 2020, severe weather in 2021, and the event was a hybrid/virtual event in 2022.
"We're trying to rebound from COVID, but we'd like to have 2,000 participants," Vanacore said. About 800 runners had already registered for either the 5K run or two-mile fun walk, but runners and walkers tend to wait a bit to see the weather forecasts, too, she said.
To donate, go to the Gaston Community Foundation website or click here. Those sites will also have information on the 100-plus nonprofit agencies participating.
What's it about
Previous Gaston Community Foundation Runs have raised a combined $26 million for nonprofit agencies in the county. "This year, we'd like to add another million or so to that," Vanacore said.
People make donations to either the nonprofits themselves or the Gaston Community Foundation matching fund. The Community Foundation will match a percentage of what the nonprofits raise up to $10,000 depending on how much it has in its matching fund coffers. For example, last year the match was 35%, so an organization that raised the $10,000 mark would get an additional $3,500 match.
The nonprofits can raise far more money than just the $10,000 though.
Gaston Community Foundation assists the nonprofits in raising funds. The nonprofits give Gaston Community Foundation at least one volunteer each to help put on the run, which takes 200 volunteers minimum.
Inclusive race
Gaston Community Foundation takes pride in have an inclusive race. The faith-based athletes of F3, which stands for fitness, fellowship and faith, will start the race by pushing residents of Holy Angels in their road race-ready "chariots."
Other groups of special needs residents from Gaston Residential Services, will also participate as volunteers.
Honorary Run Family
This year's Honorary Run Family will be the Kathleen and Steve D'Avria and their three children, Nicholas, a 10th-grader at Highland School of Technology; Ellie, a sixth-grader at Cramerton Middle School; and Sophie, a second-grader at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy. The Gaston Community Foundation selects a family or individual each year that "exemplifies the spirit of the Community Foundation Run."
Kathleen and Steve D’Avria moved to Gastonia more than 20 years ago. Kathleen is the director of High School Instruction for Gaston County Schools, while Steve is the senior vice president of the Gaston Business Association.
The D’Avria family is invested in the community, not only through the work of the Gaston Community Foundation, but in a variety of ways throughout Gaston County. Steve serves on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs, Gaston Together, and Gastonia East Rotary. Kathleen gives of her time on the Wayne Shovelin Scholarship Committee and is currently pursuing her doctorate in education at Gardner-Webb University.
Nicholas serves on Teens Changing Gaston County (a program of the Community Foundation), as well as on the Mayor’s Youth Council, the YMCA Leaders Club, as Highland Tech’s Student Council vice president, as well as on multiple Highland Tech sports teams. Ellie swims for the Gaston Gators and serves on the YMCA Leaders Club. Sophie wants to be a standup comedienne and is ready to tell a joke on stage. The D’Avria Family worships and serves at Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church.
Steve volunteered at the first Run in 2003 and has done so nearly every year since. He ran his first ever 5K at the 2007 Run and has pumped up the crowd as the Run’s Starting Line DJ since 2018.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Celebrate Gaston: Non profits, live band, thousands coming together
