Later this month, the Park City High School National Honor Society continues a tradition to honor fallen veterans and others who have died.
It’s a 5K on Saturday, May 27, at 9 a.m. that starts at Dozier Field, where the group will also give out bagels and hold a raffle as part of the event.
“It's just a very special way for them to be celebrated,” Park City High School senior Mackenzie Joiner said, who is the vice president of the National Honor Society there. “It's less about mourning their passing and more about celebrating the lives they lived. We love the opportunity to bring the community together."
Last year at the first in-person run since before the pandemic, 5K runners and attendees wore purple to honor Parker Mansson who died in May 2022 shortly after her she turned 11.
Tickets aren’t required to run but that’s one of multiple ways the students are collecting donations to give to three charities.
One of those is Labs for Liberty which gives veterans or families of fallen veterans service animals. Another is the Homeless Youth Center of Salt Lake. Proceeds will also benefit Padma Organization service trips in Rumicruz, Ecuador, this summer, with the goal of creating a community center in support of small businesses there.
In the first week of May, the initiative had already raised nearly $20,000 of its $75,000 goal.
A link to support the cause or buy a ticket to run is available here.