FERGUS – The HEARTS committee of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is once again holding its five kilometre Fun Run/Walk for Haiti on Oct. 18.
Registration begins at 8am and the run begins at 9am.
HEARTS stands for Haitians Educated and Ready to Serve and the church has supported four schools in the Cap-Haitien region of Haiti for some 25 years.
There is very little public education available in Haiti and private schools, organized at the grass-roots level, comprise 80 per cent of the available education for elementary-aged children.
Fundraising by the church directly pays the salaries of teachers and administrators, school curriculum, tuition costs for the children and provides the students with a meal.
Fundraising needs have increased this year, officials say.
Just after classes were dismissed for the summer, the Eben-Ezer on the Mountain School collapsed and it needs to be rebuilt.
So the need is great, officials say.
This year the run will take a different route.
It departs from St. Andrew’s Church at 324 St. George St. W. and will go through central Fergus in more highly visible areas, with registrants wearing HEARTS T-shirts.
The intent is to bring more visibility to the run and the needs in Haiti.
A map of the route will be available on the registration site and marshalls will be on scene to guide runners along the route.
There will be prizes for the top three fundraisers, and a light brunch afterwards.
For more information or to register/volunteer visit standrewsfergus.com/haiti.
