Pass the Hope Family Fun Run

Join us on Saturday, May 9th, 2020 for Pass the Hope, the first-of-its-kind social distancing family run benefiting Hope Vibes, a powerful nonprofit in Charlotte helping protect the homeless from COVID-19 and other health challenges.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

During these uncertain times, we're all looking for safe ways to entertain the kids and easy ways to stay healthy, while also caring for our community. Pass the Hope accomplishes all three! The total course distance, which depends on how many families sign up, involves consecutive 1 mile "legs." Each participating family runs just 1 mile*, on a route and at a specific time assigned a few days before the run, on sidewalks in their neighborhood. Times will be assigned in 10 minute increments. To direct runners on their route and to protect them when crossing streets, the Hope Vibes truck and two bicyclists will serve as escorts. Prizes will be given to the family who has the most participants, and the family that creates the coolest Hope Vibes baton.

*If your family would like to run more than 1 mile (awesome!), you will need to register the same number of times as the miles you want to run (paying $30 per mile) and email your request to the event director: rebes.watson@gmail.com.

REQUIREMENTS

Please sign up by 6 pm on May 6th. No badges or packets are needed, but your family will need to make a homemade baton (e.g. cardboard from a paper towel roll) so that you can "tap" the family before you who is finishing at your start line and then tap the next family starting at your finish line.

All ages, strollers, scooters, and abilities are welcome.

EVENT TIMING

MAY 9, 2020 starting at 9:00am. Your specific start time will depend on your start location (which will be based roughly on your home address).

ABOUT HOPE VIBES

Registration and donation proceeds go directly to Hope Vibes, a nonprofit in Charlotte, N.C. providing hope and solutions (including personal hygiene products and mobile laundry/shower vehicles) to our community's forgotten homeless population. In the past two months, seeing these homeless friends without soap or warm water to protect them from coronavirus, the Hope Vibes team has assembled three portable touchless sinks that are installed in tent camps around Charlotte. Your participation in the Pass the Hope run will allow them to create additional and necessary sinks which will help these vulnerable citizens fend off germs.

ABOUT THE RUN'S CREATOR

Rebecca Weeks Watson and her kids were getting antsy during the shelter-in-place mandate. The same day they jogged past a record number of parents and kids exercising in their neighborhood, she noticed a social media post about the portable sinks and soap that Hope Vibes was building. That's when it hit her: we could be running for a cause and feeling connected to a common goal, and it didn't have to be a race in which everyone started at the same time. Having coached several nonprofits through the SEED20 competition program, Rebecca recognizes how hard it is for causes like Hope Vibes to generate funds and awareness when their teams are small and resources constrained. She hopes families who can run or donate will do so.