A group of high school students is collecting funds from its 5k events and giving it all back into the community.
A few students from Incarnate Word Academy created a club called Run Corpus Christi.
“And we decided that the 5k would be a great idea because it combined our love for running with service," IWA senior Joaquin Dionion said. "And that's what this whole thing is about."
One of the members, Michael Fergie, said they developed the idea of bringing the community together during these financial hard times with a 5k run event and donating the money to organizations in the community.
“We all like to run and do running events, and we thought why not like use our love for running for something good," said Fergie, who also attends Incarnate Word Academy.
In 2021, the group hosted a virtual 5k run and donated around $3,000 to the the Ronald McDonald House. Senior Nicholas Trigger said this year the the club is hosting an in-person 5k run at Waters Edge Park.
Trigger said there will be a kids 1.5k run and an adult 5k run, both on January 15. The money raised from this event will be donated to Driscoll Children’s Hospital.
“Our goal right now is to like raise awareness and money for charities and organizations that do good things," Trigger said.
Amy McCoy, special events coordinator for Driscoll Children’s Hospital, said Driscoll is grateful for teenage community advocates working on behalf of childrens' health.
“This is a great story about kids that decided from their own hearts decided to give to other kids at their most difficult time," said McCoy.
Since the students will be graduating high school this year, they hope to pass the club onto the next group of students to continue the tradition of giving back to the community.
“And continue helping kids who need it or new organizations just like every year helping like just someone in need," Fergie said.
The adult 5k run starts at 4:45 p.m. Saturday and the kids 1.5k run starts at 3:45 p.m. at Waters Edge Park.
If you would like to sign up, donate or volunteer at the event visit their website here.
