WINNEMUCCA -AmeriCorps members from Winnemucca and northern Nevada are hosting a 5K walk/run on Jan. 19 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and admission is free with a donation of time to a local non-profit of choice.
According to AmeriCorps volunteer Steven Thompson, over ten local agencies and organizations will be in attendance at the event with booths set up offering opportunities for participants to donate their time and efforts.
The suggested "donation" for participation in the event is two hours of community service for an organization, but any amount of time a person is able to donate will be accepted as the entry fee.
The theme of the day is "A Day to Serve Your Community," and Thompson said that the idea of the event is to promote community involvement with organizations like the Community Garden, the Volunteer Hospice, and JOIN.
Cathy Yates, Winnemucca's AmeriCorps director, said she feels the event "is a way for families and the community to not only participate in the 5K run/walk, but to also show the importance of volunteering of time to community service."
The event will begin at 9 a.m. and registration will run from then until 11:30 a.m. Participants will have an opportunity to visit the booths of different organizations during that time for community service education and to sign up to volunteer. The run/walk itself will begin at noon.
The run will follow a course that begins and ends at the senior center; runners and walkers will travel up Melarkey Street to Highland Drive, on to Winnemucca Boulevard and Haskell Street, and then continue to Harmony Street and Minor Street back to the senior center.
According to Thompson, not only will directional signs be placed along the route to keep participants headed in the right direction, but the course will also feature signage with information about Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
AmeriCorps volunteers trained in first aid and CPR will be stationed at several points along the route in case a participant needs medical attention. Other AmeriCorps volunteers will be on site to cheer on the runners and walkers.
"Our AmeriCorps members have worked very hard to put this event together," Yates said. "It would be nice for all of the agencies to recruit some new volunteers and at the same time the volunteers can experience the joy of giving back to the community."
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