First Presbyterian held its first Sole 2 Soul 5K run/walk on Saturday, September 19, near the Rose Garden in Allentown. While the 1-mile fun walk followed a shorter 1.3-mile loop by the Rose Garden, the 5K course began and ended at the pavilions on Honochick Drive, wound around the Rose Garden, and crossed Ott Street to circle Muhlenberg Lake in Cedar Beach Park before crossing back over Ott to the finish.


Te event drew more than 50 participants, including about 35 runners and close to 20 walkers—not including babies in strollers or dogs! Even better, we had more than 35 church members and friends from elementary age to youth to adult helping out and lots of folks just cheering people on.


Te Sole 2 Soul event was conceived as part of an effort to find new, fun, meaningful ways to raise money for the church’s general fund. People often like to designate their financial gifts toward a specific program at church, such as the youth, mission or music programs, but there is also a great need for funds for the day-to-day running of the church. Items such as general maintenance and cleaning, snow removal, and fixing the roof are all less “flashy” items to designate one’s financial gifts toward, but are critical to FPCA’s everyday life. I’m pleased to report that the Sole 2 Soul event raised more than $2,000 for the general fund to be used where it’s most needed.


Other key goals were to provide an additional time of general fellowship for church members and friends and to reach out to the Lehigh Valley


Brown, respectively, who each received a $5 gift card, handmade running trophies, and lots of applause. A variety of door prizes were also awarded, including gift certificates donated by Giant Food Store, Phoebe Floral, and Outback Steakhouse and even a $100 gift certificate from the Emmaus Run Inn, which went to Sara Lakatosh.


Community. As a mission component of the event, we collected five new backpacks and enough school supplies to overfill each one for kids of the Allentown School District.


Along with the run and walk, we had youth doing face painting and applying FPCA tattoos, which the kids especially enjoyed. Tracey Matthews brought her food truck, “Trixie’s Treats,” with delicious cupcakes and other breakfast foods, while Brett Heier was everywhere, passing out helium balloons to all takers.


Te top overall finishers of the 5K were Joey Fainor for the men (20:11) and Eva Eicheler for the women (24:37). Each received a $25 gift certificate generously donated by Aardvark Sports Shop in Bethlehem. We also had a fun award for the oldest and youngest finishers, which went to Jackson Eaton and Bethany


Corporate sponsors for the event included National Penn Bank, the Haverford Trust Company, J.S. Burkholder Funeral Home, Hackman’s Bible Bookstore, and the Fuller Paper Company. Teir generous support made a big difference to the success of Sole 2 Soul.


Original planners for the event were FPCA’s then-director of finance Marianne Kitzmiller and elder Rebecca Hanson. At the time I jumped into planning in August, the preliminary work of booking the park, getting the city forms completed, hiring a timer, etc. was completed. But with six weeks to go, we had no sponsors and only two people registered. With the help of many people, but especially FPCA staffers Caley Oels, Kelsey Doney, and pastor Mike Drake, we pulled off a fun event that everyone who attended really enjoyed. Tere was a great sense of happiness all morning, with people cheering on runners, catching up with friends, and simply having a good time together. I really look forward to doing it again next year!


LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016


We most definitely plan to host another Sole 2 Soul 5K walk/run event next year. The morning of the event, two people already volunteered to serve on next year’s planning team. With an earlier start, I believe that we could double the money we raised and increase awareness and participation. I would love to see 100 to 150 participants and many more than that come out to both volunteer and enjoy a morning of fellowship.


Next year, we hope to have the 10:10, our alternative worship band, playing throughout the morning, offer more activities for kids, and continue to grow community aspects beyond the run/walk itself.


For more information, contact me at dentfamily6@verizon.net. 9


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