A Jacksonville youth program recently got a boost from a local foot race.
According to an announcement by Memorial Health this morning, the Jacksonville Memorial Hospital 5K/10K Race proceeds from the 2022 event have been awarded to the Jacksonville Youth Engagement Program.
Race Director Kevin Eckhoff says the Jacksonville Memorial Hospital 5K/10K Race is proud to support JYEP. “We are giving $2,147.00 to the Jacksonville Youth Engagement Program. And to remind folks, the program provides low-income youth with recreation, sports, and mentoring activities. Some of those dollars will be used for registration fees, equipment, and transportation.
In the past summer, more than three hundred kids were able to participate in sports programs, camps, and recreation activities through the Youth Engagement Program.”
Eckhoff says despite the change in date for the race, overall the 2022 event was a great return for the annual race after a brief hiatus due to the Covid pandemic. “We moved the race from May to October, and we had a lot of positive comments that the runners and walkers appreciated the cooler weather.
The numbers were down a little bit, we’d been away for two years but we hope to build that back up in 2023, and we do have a race date for this year and it will be on October 21st.”
JYEP Board Member Kevin Hinkle said in today’s announcement that they are grateful for the support by JMH, and they believe “that expanding access to sports and recreation activities can make a difference in the lives of young people, just as the JMH Race is making a difference in our community.”