Last weekend was a beautiful opportunity to take advantage of the warm weather and participate in some favourite outdoor activities.
While many were enjoying the weather by golfing or gardening, some were enjoying the simpler tasks of walking and running.
The fourth annual Blackfalds Fun Run & Walk was held on May 11 to raise funds for the newly christened Abbey Master Builder Centre.
Organizer Cynthia Reeves said that the event began four years ago as the brainchild of the Youth Optimist Club.
“They wanted to come up with some kind of fundraiser that would benefit the community,” said Reeves. She added that the club also wanted to do something different and that a fun run had never been done in Blackfalds before.
“We wanted to do something new, something fresh and something that would promote families coming out together,” said Reeves.
She added that the fun run also promotes activity within families and the community of Blackfalds.
In the last four years, said Reeves, the fun run has gained support and is continuously getting more sponsors on board.
This year one of the event’s newest sponsors was Tim Hortons, who provided coffee and timbits for event participants prior to the start of the run. Servus Credit Union, another new sponsor, held a pancake breakfast for participants after the run this year as well.
“We’re just trying to make it new and fresh every year,” said Reeves.
Funds raised by the run go to the Blackfalds Fieldhouse Society to support the Blackfalds Fieldhouse, now known as the Abbey Centre.
Reeves said the club identified this group as a worthy benefactor for the run when it was implemented four years ago. She added that initiatives likes these are the entire reason the club exists.
“This club is community-minded and community-oriented,” said Reeves. “If we see a cause or if we see a need in the community, that’s what our group is there to step up and help with.”
The Abbey Master Builder Centre was a worthy cause because it will support the same things that Youth Optimists support, said Reeves.
“It is going to be a facility that all families can enjoy,” said Reeves. “It promotes an active lifestyle and it will definitely be the centre of our community when it is up and running.”
Reeves said that the Youth Optimist Club consists of young people from Grades 5 to 8 and has been around in Blackfalds for about eight years and exists to promote good citizenship within the community.
Youth Optimists do a few other fundraisers over the course of a year, said Reeves, but the Blackfalds Fun Run & Walk is their biggest annual event.