For the 10th year in a row, Temple University students, faculty, and alumni will lace up their running shoes to make a difference for a local non-profit.
Any runner who registers for the 2018 Broad Street Run, to be held Sunday, May 6, is eligible to join the Temple team. All proceeds from the sale of the team’s shirts will support Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D.
This year’s charity of choice, Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D. is a local non-profit dedicated to suicide awareness. Temple University trustee Ron Donatucci founded the organization after his son, Michael, took his life in July 2016. The acronym stands for Handling Anxiety, Navigating Depression. Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D. finances therapy sessions with Temple University Health System psychologists for local high school students who are battling depression.
“A recent loss in our Fox School community inspired our choice of Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D. as the charity of choice,” said Fox School professor Michael McCloskey, who leads Temple’s Broad Street Run team. “Sophia Verros, a 1995 Fox graduate, died by suicide this past summer. Sophia frequently involved herself in our alumni events and had participated in previous Broad Street Runs.
“By aligning with Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D., we hope to share Michael’s and Sophia’s stories, and to bring awareness to mental-health disorders that can affect anyone and can happen at any time.”
This effort is one facet of the yearlong contributions being made to Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D. Annually, Temple’s risk management and insurance students from Temple’s Gamma Iota Sigma chapter aim to raise $15,000 or more in support of their local charity of choice through active fundraising during the academic year.
McCloskey, an assistant professor of risk management and insurance, has led the Broad Street Run team each of the last 10 years as a primary contributor to Gamma Iota Sigma’s fundraising efforts. In 2017, the team raised more than $6,000 toward ARTZ Philadelphia, a non-profit that provides support and opportunities for dementia sufferers and their caretakers.
Want to join the team?
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INTERVIEW REQUESTS: Please contact Christopher A. Vito, associate director of communications and media relations at 215-204-4115 or [click-for-email].