Runners and walkers are pictured participating in the 2019 Union County Health Department Stay Active 5K. The race was last held fully in person in 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returns this year on March 11, with funds benefiting efforts to fight food insecurity among local youth.
(Photo submitted)
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Community members will be running in the Union County Health Department Stay Active 5K this year to help ensure local children do not go hungry.
As free and reduced lunch benefits for all students expire following the COVID-19 pandemic, UCHD officials said 2023 is the “perfect year” to fundraise for local food security efforts.
UCHD Director of Health Promotion and Planning Shawn Sech said the Stay Active 5K, which has previously raised funding for improvements to the Jim Simmons Trail and adding bike racks to the community, will help with efforts throughout the community to make food accessible to children in need.
Sech said the 5K hosted on March 11 will place emphasis upon food security efforts in the northern portion of the county, but noted that there are children throughout Union County who go hungry at home.
Currently, 34% of students in the North Union district participate in the federal free and reduced lunch program, with the highest percentage at the elementary school.
At Marysville, 16.4% of students receive free or reduced lunches. The number of students who receive lunches in the Marysville district has jumped every year since the 2017-2018 academic year, when 325 students were enrolled in the program, compared to 902 now.
In the 2021-2022 school year, the most recent data from Fairbanks officials, 8.7% of its students received free and reduced lunches.
While a significant number of local students receive school lunches at a discount, Sech explained that some families in need do not take advantage of the federal program because it is difficult to navigate.
Sech noted that there is no way to sign up for the program online.
Instead, families are required to submit a packet of paperwork created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to each school building they have a child in.
While families who receive SNAP or EBT benefits are automatically enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program, Sech said there are plenty of children in middle income ranges that still face food insecurity at home and are benefited by discounted school lunches.
Tamisha Matus, Creating Healthy Communities Coordinator at UCHD, said the amount of paperwork required to administer the program is evidenced by the fact that it actually saved schools money to expand the program to all children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aside from the decreased administrative costs, Matus emphasized that, in 2021, “nutrition standards went up, the number of kids eating went up.”
“Why not give kids the food they need?” and continue the expanded benefits, Matus asked.
Matus and Sech added that a number of programs exist to help families – especially students – access food, and they are expanding.
Sech said that each of the three Union County school districts have a Blessings in a Backpack program, which is part of a national organization that provides food for the weekend for children who receive free and reduced lunches at school during the week.
The health department is most directly involved in North Union’s Blessings in a Backpack program.
While other districts rely on “community collaborations,” NU operates its program in-house through their food service department. Students who receive Blessings in a Backpack – 100 at the elementary school and 50 at the middle – are delivered food during the last day of the school week.
It costs UCHD $18,000 annually to operate the program. Sech said that has been funded in part by grants and donations in the past, but this year “we don’t have outside funds” so it will come entirely from the health department’s general fund.
Funds generated through the Stay Active 5K, which will be hosted at Mill Creek Park, will help fill in the gaps in funding.
Students have also recognized the need among their peers and have made efforts to help one another.
Marysville’s Inner Club Council, FFA and Teacher Lindsay Welk’s vocational skills classes recently opened the Monarch Market for students in need of additional food at home.
North Union students and staff are also in the process of implementing their own food pantry.
Sech said UCHD is working to help the district to find the financial means to make the pantry sustainable while NU community members are also looking for donations.
“I think there’s going to be some phenomenal things that come from it,” she said.
Sech said the Stay Active 5K, which will also host a food drive focused on goods appropriate for students during packet pickup, is a great way for community members to get involved with efforts to feed local children.
Beside the good cause, Sech said the race is intended to be a fun activity for “all ages, all stages.”
Those who participate will receive a “super soft” T-shirt and a glittery, pot-of-gold St. Patrick’s Day finisher’s medal. Everyone who crosses the finish line will also get a mini Bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Sech said strollers and dogs are permitted, and participants can run or walk at any pace they desire. There is no time limit and no one will be kicked off the course.
Winners will be named in different age brackets for different genders, along with overall winners.
Those who are not pushing for a personal record still have the opportunity to compete through the St. Patrick’s Day costume contest.
Sech said those who are interested in volunteering at the event can also contact her at shawn.sech@uchd.net to do so.
Those interested in running or walking in the Stay Active 5K can register at www.runsignup.com/Race/OH/Marysville/StayActive5k. Registrations made through Feb. 27 for those 19 and younger are $20, and $25 for those 20 and older.
The 5K is one day of fun that benefits food security needs, but Matus said there are lots of ways to continue to stay involved with the cause.
Those interested can donate to Blessings in a Backpack online at https://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/ways-to-donate/. Matus said donors can specifically indicate which school they would like their funds to benefit.
Matus also said those who would like to become involved in discussing and helping solve food insecurity issues in the area can participate in the Union County Food Council.
To learn more, contact Matus at tamisha.matus@uchd.net or (937) 645-2027.