KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
There are many 5k events, and some of them are for charities but there is only one Milk Run. The run is a fundraising event for the Kodiak Kindness Project, a non-profit that aims to help young parents with all methods of infant feeding- hence the name. Here’s Heather Preece, Volunteer Executive Director of Kodiak Kindness, describing the event.
“The milk run was actually started by a participant in our program back in 2013. And she approached me wanting to just raise awareness in the community about the Kindness Project and do a little community fundraiser. And it took off from there. We help families nourish their babies, and babies drink milk of different kinds. And so we thought the name the Kodiak Milk Run was a fitting name for the event. Tt’s basically and it is a fundraising event, but also an awareness raising event around the same time as World Breastfeeding Week in the world, which is marked all over the world in different ways,” Preece said.
There was no Milk Run last year in light of the pandemic. But the yearlong hiatus isn’t the only interesting thing about this year’s Milk Run.
“And so this year, marks a special year of the Milk Run. Because in March 1st of 2021, the Kindness project became its own independent nonprofit. And we are operating separately from Providence Hospital, which- we used to operate under the auspices of Providence for many years. So we kind of notched it up to the next level. We’ve got t-shirts this year, designed by local famous artist, Breanna Gibbs, and so they’re gonna be a collector’s item, I’m sure.”
It’s not just a race- there will be a plethora of activities for kids and adults of all ages.
“It’s a pick your own distance race. So you can walk, you can run, you can push a stroller, you can have your dog. We have a little kids race on Woody Way Field to begin with. And then we’ll start the main community funding run, which can be any distance that you like, up to a 5k. We will also be timing it. So if you want to, if you’re serious runner and you want to do at timed 5k race, it goes up to that level as well,” Preece.
The Milk Run will be August 7th at 10am at Woody Way Field. It’s $15 for individuals and $35 for families. Registration can be done in-person from 9:30 to 9:50, or online. A link will be available on the KMXT website.
