Hunger is real in our community and surrounding areas.
The REALTOR Association of Southern Kentucky (RASK) in Bowling Green holds two major annual food drives –REALTORS Hope for Homeless – Feeding Local Families in the spring (established 2012) and the Glow Run/Walk in the fall (established 2014). One hundred percent of money raised from both events is given back to our community in the form of food.
Why do we hold the 5K Glow Run/Walk? RASK wants to create awareness about the hunger and food insecurity situation in our community and surrounding areas AND take action to do something about it!
More than 50% of our children in the city/county schools are on the free/reduced breakfast and lunch program. Several city/county schools in our area even have 90% or more students on the free/reduced breakfast and lunch program. Many of these children often receive their only meals at school.
Most people do not know that programs, such as the backpack program, stop when school is NOT in session, therefore many kids who receive their only meal at school will not even get a bag of food for the weekend. This means that any time school is not in session – fall/spring break, Christmas, snow days, summer break – children in our community will be hungry. The food purchased through our community service projects helps to fill the gaps. Most of the food we purchase is distributed directly by one of the school Family Resource Coordinators (FRCs). The school FRCs visit the homes of these children when school is not in session and deliver food to the those who would otherwise go hungry. Currently we support the city and county schools in Warren as well as many others in Allen, Butler, Edmonson, Logan and Simpson Counties.
We also support HOTEL INC, a community-based non-profit organization that provides Warren County citizens with pathways to stable housing, community resources, building relationships, quality food, and serving our neighbors by stocking the Mana Mart food pantry. HOTEL INC provides an average of 8,000 services per year; the Mana Mart is averaging 50 new households a month.
REALTORS Hope for Homeless Glow Run/Walk has donated hundreds of thousands of servings of food to children in our school systems and HOTEL INC since the start of these events. We are now one of their largest food donors, and they count on us to help them feed families in need.
By participating in the Glow Run/Walk on Thursday, October 24, held at Kereiakes Park, 100% of your registration fee will go towards feeding a hungry child!
