Scranton half marathon fundraises differently this year
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A fundraiser Friday night in Lackawanna County benefitting Detective Kyle Gilmartin as he continues to recover.
An annual event at a Scranton restaurant and organizers from a popular racing event paired up to fundraise for their first responder.
It was the first ‘Firkin Friday,’ at Cooper’s Seafood House in Scranton.
A charity cask was tapped to help raise money for the Scranton half marathon, but marathon committee members donated all the proceeds to Gilmartin’s family.
It’s an annual tradition the tapping of the first firkin keg of the year Friday night inside Cooper’s Seafood House in Scranton.
The fundraising event kicked off the countdown to the Scranton half marathon and helped benefit the organization.
Except this time around, all the money raised will be going to Detective Kyle Gilmartin.
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“He’s been in our prayers since day one. We’re going to give back to the community anyways and there is no greater place than to give back to the Scranton Police Department because the Scranton half marathon does not happen without the help of the Scranton police,” said Tim Homles Scranton half marathon committee member.
The money raised came from raffle tickets and pints of beer sold for $6.50 each. Every cent goes to the family of the injured officer.
“They’re doing it not because they love running but because they love the community and make Scranton into a great place to live,” added Jesse Cooper a family of the owners of Cooper’s Seafood House.
The response was overwhelming more than an hour and a half wait Friday night.
Those who did show up said it was worth the wait to pay tribute to the local officer who puts it all on the line for his community.
“Our Scranton police force does everything for our race committee and our races and the citizens in the city. when we have an injured officer, as a community we gather and we support that officer,” says Ted Zwiebel a Scranton half marathon committee member.
For one little girl and her family, Detective Gilmartin is a lifelong friend, so being here Friday was extra important.
“My uncle works with him and they are best friends. We didn’t really know what happened at first and then once we knew what happened we were sad,” added Emily Richardson from Dunmore.
“Everyone just shows you this is a special place to live because of the outpouring of support you get for things like this and this is one of the things that reminds us of them and the very hard work they do every single day and we need to recognize that,” explained Holmes.
With that first ice-cold firkin beer of the year, a very special cheers.
Cooper’s held a ‘Crab for a Cause’ fundraiser for Detective Gilmartin that ran until Friday.
Managers tell us they do not have an official total at this time, but so far between the two fundraisers, they say more than $10,000 has been raised.
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