It’s almost time for what has become a local health and family-oriented fundraising tradition. The 7th Annual Race for Riley fundraiser to benefit the Joseph Sams School in Fayetteville will be held on April 30 at its new location in the Serenbe community in City of Chattahoochee Hills.
The annual Race for Riley 5K Run/1 Mile Walk, Tot Trot and Bike Ride fundraiser to be held on April 30 is named for Riley Peek. Event founder Waynette Peek, mother of nine year-old Riley for whom the event is named, was the impetus for the event that is now in its seventh year. This year’s Race for Riley will be held rain or shine at Serenbe in the City of Chattahoochee Hills.
The family-oriented activities at the event are numerous. But the premier attraction, the 5K Run/1 Mile Fun Walk drew nearly 900 runners last year along with an enormous number of people who came to support the event. Also new last year and continuing this year will be a bike ride through the scenic Chatt Hills area. The bike ride has three courses available, including those covering 13 miles, 32, miles and 65 miles.
The fundraiser will be held rain or shine, with the 5K Run/Walk beginning at 8:30 a.m. Pre-registration is encouraged but not required.
New to the event this year will be the location. Though previously held at the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home on Hutcheson Ferry Road in Palmetto, this year’s Race for Riley will be held three miles further out Hutcheson Ferry Road at Serenbe, one of Georgia’s truly unique communities. Signs will be posted to guide motorists to the parking area.
For more information call 770-463-0714, email to waynette@raceforriley.org or visit the race website at http://raceforriley.org
Riley’s parents, Chattahoochee Hills residents Waynette and Rodney Peek, in 2006 decided to designate the proceeds to Riley’s school, The Joseph Sams School in Fayetteville. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the school.
For Rodney and Waynette, the goal of the annual event is simple.
“Our goal is to improve the lives of the children that attend the school,” Waynette said. “From the first day that Riley walked into her classroom, her quality of life and our peace of mind improved because we had found a safe, loving learning environment for our daughter. Having a place like JSS is a blessing that cannot be adequately described.”
The fundraiser was the brainchild of Waynette, who with no fundraising experience, raised approximately $70,000 the first year. Today Waynette and Rodney, an air traffic controller, and their team of volunteers put in countless hours each year to continue the fundraising effort. Proceeds from the initial events went to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, the organization dedicated to the debilitating, systemic condition with which Riley was diagnosed when she was two years old. Subsequent annual fundraisers designated The Joseph Sams School as the recipient.
