The Human Race Starts Here, April 16

The first Human Race in Illinois will be held right here in McHenry County, April 16. The national event offers charities an easy way to raise money and participants can choose to walk or run to benefit the charities they find meaningful.

 “We’re really excited. This is the first year and we don’t know what to expect. We’re hoping for sunshine and warmth and happy faces,” said Rebecca Stiemke, director of United Way of Greater McHenry County Volunteer Center.

Stiemke said volunteer centers across the country have organized Human Race events to help local charities raise funds. She saw a Human Race in the past and thought this year would be a great year to organize a race for McHenry County.

The Human Race was started 30 years ago in Sonoma County, California. In their first race, they raised $1,800 for charities. Last year, the Sonoma race attracted more than 10,000 participants and raised nearly $750,000.

Stiemke said the first year goals for McHenry County were to attract 300 runners and 50 charities.  The McHenry County Human Race is sure to exceed the runner goal as there were nearly 300 runners signed up as of March 27.

“We’re told in the last two weeks, there is a tendency to double race participants,” Stiemke said.

Stiemke expects there will at least 38 charities signed up by the April 1 deadline, with a fundraising goal of about $91,000.

She said it was difficult for agencies to decide on fundraising goals, and the numbers may be on the high side.

“This is the first time and we’ll see where it goes,” Stiemke said.

While deciding on a goal may be difficult, participating in the race is an easy to way for charities to raise funds.

“It’s not a whole lot of work on our part. We don’t have to arrange sponsors or the event. We just sign people up and show up,” said Kelly Pokharel, executive director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of McHenry County.

CASA of McHenry County provides trained volunteers who serve as court advocates for abused and neglected children to ensure they have a voice in court and a safe, permanent home.

Runners and walkers for CASA are almost halfway to their goal of $2,000.

“We will use the funds for program expenses, to train more volunteers to help more abused and neglected children,” Pokharel said.

Runners and walkers can choose from a great variety of charities including: food pantries, animal shelters, environmental organizations, counseling services, mentoring services, therapeutic services and sports organizations. The only requirement for charities is that they are a 501c3 organization serving McHenry County.

Runners and walkers interested in participating in the 5K or 3-mile run in McHenry can choose a charity and sign up online.  The cost to participate is $25 online or $30 the day of the event.

Some area businesses are putting teams together for the event. Eder, Casella & Co., an accounting firm in McHenry, put a team together to raise funds for Turning Point, an agency that assists victims of domestic violence.

The last time we looked we had 60 people that are going to be running for our firm. We have about 28 people employees. Spouses, family members, friends were asked if they wanted to join and help us and we’ve gotten a good turnout,” said Michelle Vicencio, senior accountant.

“We wanted to give back to the community and do something that brings our company together,” she said. The goal is to raise $4,000 and the company would match another $1,000.

The Human Race will be a festive event with participant booths and a deejay. It will be held at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 16, at McHenry Corporate Park, near the Volunteer Center.

“It’s a neat way to bring organizations together and to support each other,” Pokharel said.