A Message From Our President, Judy Wexler
I hope you are having a healthy and safe winter. I know I am counting the days until spring and warmer weather!
We have many exciting things going on for iRun4Life in 2019. In January, we had our annual iRun4Life School Directors meeting where we planned for our upcoming spring running season and shared creative ideas. In February, Caroline and Carol attended the Wilmington Delaware PTO Expo where they met with PTO presidents and members of local elementary schools from New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. We look forward to following up with the PTO members to help get their schools up and running with iRun4Life.
We are very excited to kick-off our spring school running programs. Please keep an eye out for your school’s sign up information, and get your sneakers ready!
In April, we will have our annual Gives Back Program when we fundraise for low-income elementary schools in need of new exercise and recess equipment. This year our Gives Back School Recipient is Robert B. Pollack Elementary School. More information is detailed below.
Sunday, May 19, will be the 10
th
anniversary of the iRun4Life Kids Only 3K Race at Doylestown Central Park! We have very special anniversary finisher medals for all of our runners, so mark your calendars! If you would like to volunteer, please email
Caroline
. More information will also follow soon.
Running in cold weather always makes me feel better, so keep moving!
Happy Running,
Judy
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Welcome New Schools and New Directors!
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New School
New Hope-Solebury Lower Elementary -- New Hope-Solebury School District
New Directors
Matt Smith -- Director, Cold Spring Elementary
Mollie McFeely -- Co-Director, Cold Spring Elementary
Dana Zuiderhof -- Director, Groveland Elementary
Liz Augenblick -- Director, New Hope-Solebury Lower Elementary
Sandy Weisbrot -- Co-Director, New Hope-Solebury Lower Elementary
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Gives Back Program
iRun4Life is pleased to announce that the Robert B. Pollock Elementary School in Philadelphia has been named as the Spring 2019 Recipient School for the iRun4Life Gives Back Program.
The iRun4Life Gives Back program was started in 2017 and is our way of doing a "Giant Good Deed" for an elementary school in need. The recipient school often does not have the funds or resources to give its students access to modern and functional exercise equipment. Our goal is to provide new and innovative physical exercise equipment at the start of the school year to help these students stay active and fit all year long.
Now in our 3rd year, iRun4Life has raised over $13,500 as part of the Gives Back program. Past recipient schools include: the Bayard Taylor, Roosevelt, the Thomas Mifflin, and the Edward Gideon Elementary Schools, all 100% low-income schools in the Philadelphia School District.
iRun4Life participating schools set aside one day during their eight-week training to participate in a special running event (color run, music based relay races, obstacle courses, etc.) to raise funds for the school in need. iRun4Life then matches their total donations up to $2,500.
We are extremely proud of our iRun4Life runners who have participated in this fundraiser to share the gift of good health and help other students have the opportunity to exercise. Our goal this year is to raise $5,000 to allow the Robert B. Pollock Elementary School to purchase much-needed athletic and recess equipment for their students.
If you are interested in donating to our iRun4Life Gives Back fundraiser to purchase new exercise equipment for the children at the Robert Pollack School, please click the button below:
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iRun4Life Kids Only 3K Race: 10th Anniversary!
We are so excited to be planning our 10th iRun4Life Kids Only 3K Race. This will be a very special year as we work to add more schools to the program, with the goal of getting lots of kids up and outside for exercise, and learning about how to eat and live healthy. The 2019 race will feature special anniversary medals – we can't wait to see your kids wearing them after they complete the race. Mark your 2019 calendar now for May 19 @ Doylestown Central Park!
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PTO Today LIVE Expo
On February 27th, Carol (Treasurer) and Caroline (Administrative Assistant) represented iRun4Life in Wilmington, DE at the
PTO Today LIVE Expo for PTO & PTA Leaders
. The goal of participating in the expo was to introduce the iRun4Life program to PTO/PTA leaders from schools outside of our local area in order to expand our reach. Approximately 150 attendees roamed the big expo hall and the ladies spoke to many people interested in learning more about the program.
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Director Spotlight: Beth Bell, Titus Elementary
Beth Bell is the iRun4Life Director at Titus Elementary School. She’s been organizing the program since 2015 with the help of Marie Schrier and Tara Endy.
“I think the reason our program is so successful is that we understand that kids don’t always enjoy running and eating healthy, so we’re always looking for unique ways to make it fun for them,” said Beth.
One way they do this is through their weekly raffle drawing. Each week a lucky winner is chosen to win a prize worth up to $50. Raffle tickets are earned through meeting their running and good deed goals for the week.
Another special aspect of their program is their service project model that incorporates the “good deeds” portion of the program. Each year a different charity is chosen to support such as Make a Difference Children’s Foundation, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, Travis Manion Foundation, and Special Olympics of Bucks County.
“My goal was to introduce our students to a different foundation each year and find a way to connect the students with those we’re helping. When you’re able to make this connection, the students want to do more and the fundraising becomes easy,” Beth said.
Titus Elementary’s iRun4Life program is well known for its much anticipated and successful Color Run. It originated when they were trying to find ways to raise money for their charity. Students gather sponsors for the race and 100% of the money is donated to their cause. Beth told us that each year they try to add something exciting and different. For example, last year when they supported Special Olympics of Bucks County, they brought in a giant water slide and did their own version of a Polar Bear Plunge – which the kids absolutely loved!
When asked why Titus Elementary School’s program hit its maximum for number of registered participants in just under 3 minutes Beth replied, “The kids love participating in all the activities we plan, hanging out with their friends in the warmer temperatures, and being part of something fun that offers something new each week. In today’s busy world, it’s often difficult to make exercising, eating healthy and volunteering a priority. I think parents appreciate the effort put forth in teaching the participants how important it really is.”
Beth spends many hours planning for the iRun4Life program at Titus, and her energy is contagious. Her many volunteers really enjoy working with her, and appreciate all she does to help get the children at Titus up and running and eating healthy. Beth feels that if you’ve been lucky enough to have a blessed life, then you need to work just as hard to give back.
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Worth another mention ...
Real Woman Article about iRun4Life!
Our iRun4Life founder and president, Judy Wexler, talks about the philosophy, success, and sponsor needs of the iRun4Life organization in the latest issue of
Real Woman Magazine
. Click
HERE
link to read the article, "
Judy Wexler Is Fighting Childhood Obesity By Making Running Fun
".
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Facebook Donate Button & Fundraising
The iRun4Life Facebook page has an active
Donate button allowing anyone to make a donation to our organization right on Facebook! Donating this way allows the full amount to be paid out, as Facebook does not charge any payment fees to charitable organizations. Please encourage people to visit our page,
www.facebook.com/iRun4Life, and click
Donate under our logo/cover photo.
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There is also an easy way to run your own Facebook fundraiser for iRun4Life. Your friends and family who view the post and would like to donate can do so right on Facebook -- it's so easy! Facebook fundraisers will help us raise money for the upcoming iRun4Life season, and will benefit the general organization fund so we can help the schools with their needs and bring in needed funds for the Kids Only 3K Race. Click
here to see how it's done!
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Recipes featuring healthy ingredients for healthy living
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Chicken Chop Chop Salad with Creamy Mango Vinaigrette
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This salad is perfect for many allergy sufferers ... it's cane sugar free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, peanut free, and soy free! This is a perfect recipe for a light dinner for 2.
Prep time is just 10 minutes – easy peasy! Just search "chop chop" at
HeatherCristo.com.
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CHEESY ROTISSERIE CHICKEN ENCHILADA SKILLET
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This awesome recipe has lots of great things going for it -- it's freezer friendly, gluten-free, kid friendly, and takes 30 minutes or less to prepare.
- Total time: 30 minutes
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Less than 500 calories per serving!
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Fundraising Tool: Giving Assistant
You care about our cause; and we care about YOU! That’s why iRun4Life has teamed up with Giving Assistant to make it easier to donate. Simply sign up, select our cause, and shop at over 3,000+ online stores. You’ll save money and earn cash back on your everyday purchases, all while making a difference. Click the Giving Assistant banner to start shopping!
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The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases each time you shop. It's that easy! So instead of shopping at Amazon, shop at AmazonSmile!
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"Celebrating Youth Fitness Through Running"
P.O. Box 234, Doylestown, PA 18901
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