Centreville — Centreville Day is presenting the first annual Zombie Slouch 5K Run and Walk, on Saturday, Oct. 20, outside Colin Powell Elementary, 13340 Leland Road in Centreville. Check-in time is at 8 a.m. and the race starts at 9 a.m.
Proceeds benefit DC Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation which supports local children with cancer, as well as their families. It’s a family-friendly event, and strollers and dogs are welcome in the walk.
See www.DCCAndlelighters.org, go to Current Events, and click on the Centreville Day link for registration in the Upcoming Events section. Online registration closes Oct. 15.
Since this event is happening so close to Halloween, participants and onlookers are encouraged to come in costume. Prizes will be awarded for the most creative adult, most creative child, plus the fastest male and female runners and the fastest runner under age 12.
“This is the first time we have done something like this,” said organizer Meg Crossett of Centreville’s Pleasant Hill community. Her daughter Rachel was just 6 in July 2001 when she died of neuroblastoma; and Crossett, who’s a member of DC Candlelighters, does everything she can to help other families whose children are struggling with cancer.
“We are in need of money to fund the requests that we get,” she said. “The Angel Kisses 5K [on Mother’s Day in Chantilly] funds most of what we do. It’s just that we have an amazing amount of requests for help for our local families. We sponsor monthly dinners and meetings in the hospitals and at Life with Cancer for the families.”
“I have personally given out over 30 new patient bags since June — and that does not include the other board members and the bags they have given out,” added Crossett. “Way too many kids are being diagnosed. The fundraising I do in the spring goes to research, but the proceeds from the Zombie Slouch are for direct services to the families.”
— Bonnie Hobbs