There are many ways a parish youth group can raise money, but recently the LifeTeen branch of St. Mary’s Parish in Bloomfield, NM decided to do something a little different by hosting their first-ever Color Run.
While brainstorming ideas for how to raise the necessary funds for a trip to World Youth Day 2016, several of the core members for LifeTeen, who happened to be runners, came up with a plan to combine fitness with fundraising.
“I had been trying to find a Color Run that I could participate in personally, but there were none close, so I decided we should just have our own!” said Kristi Lucero, a member of St. Mary’s Core Lifeteen group. “The Core team organized the event, and we had 30 teens from our Lifeteen group working.”
Along with funding a trip to World Youth Day, the team decided that they wanted the Color Run event to also benefit LifeGuard, a pro-life organization serving the Four Corners area.
“Over the summer, I had built a great relationship with Dan Anguis at LifeGuard,” said Lucero. “As Core members, we have been really trying to educate our teens about abortion, and other pro-life issues. We decided that a portion of our proceeds should go to help our local pro-life organization and the amazing work that they have been doing.”
The run was held on the properties of Wines of the San Juan, a winery near Blanco, NM. According to Lucero, 130 runners and walkers participated in the race, and about 40 kids took part in a special 100-yard dash. Because of the large number of participants and supporters, Lucero’s team has decided to make the Color Run an annual event.
“The event as a whole was just amazing,” she said. “All of the participants and volunteers and teens were just having a blast! Everyone was smiling and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.”
Finally, Lucero added, the Color Run would not have been possible without the large network of parishes, clergy and volunteers in the Bloomfield area.
“We would like to say thank you to the youth group of St. Mary in Farmington, the youth group at Sacred Heart, Fr. Tim Farrell and Father Anthony, Deacon Pat Valdez and his family for also coming out and showing their support. We would also like to give a big thanks to Father Bob Mathieu. Nothing we do would have been possible with out the prayerful leadership he gives to us without end! And to the communities of St. Mary Bloomfield and St. Rose of Lima, we are so grateful for the support they give to our teens, and to us the Core team. We feel their love and prayers more than they will ever know.”