East Lake Fire Rescue’s third annual 5K run on Saturday (Oct. 22) will benefit the Children’s Burn Foundation, Joshua House and other local charities.

EAST LAKE – There’s still time to register for the 3rd Annual 5k Run for Charity sponsored by the East Lake Fire Rescue.

All proceeds from Saturday’s (Oct. 22) event will benefit the Children’s Burn Foundation of Florida, Friends of Joshua House and other local charities.

East Lake firefighters stopped by Joshua House on Tuesday (Oct. 18) for a full tour of the facility. DeDe Grundel, the executive director of Friends of Joshua House who provided the tour, said the proceeds from the 2015 run enabled them to buy new mattresses.

“Our children are ages 6-17 years old, come from significant cases of abuse and neglect, therefore, support is needed and very much appreciated,” Grundel said.

Proceeds from Saturday’s run, Grundel said, have been earmarked for several areas:

Healthy Choices – The household budget has been hard hit, especially in relation to food expenses. One of the most popular projects with the children is the Healthy Choice project. The Friends of Joshua House has a garden in which children grow their own vegetables and learn the value of food. Children are also provided with additional options to the weekly menu. The children get
to make healthy food choices and Joshua Houses uses the funds collected to assure that it can add their “choices” to the menu. Items on the menu include seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables, Greek yogurts, nuts, organic dairy.

These children have come from severely neglectful homes and their diets have often lacked proper nutrition. The program was created to teach them they can find alternative food choices that are good for them. Funds are also used for nutritional training, such as bringing in a nutritionist to do classes on menu planning on a budget, food handling, etc.

Life Enrichment Activities – These kids have not had a lot of fun in their lives, Grundel said. Physically and often sexually abused, neglected and even abandoned, play just wasn’t part of their days. Friends of Joshua House wants to assure they live an enriching life, but needs financial help to take 36 kids to the movies, museums, aquariums, fishing or even just to the beach. Funds collected for life enrichment is to help pay for those activities as well as football leagues, prom, school field trips and so on.

The Joshua House Simmons Cottage acts as an emergency shelter. Moving forward, the intent is to open it for long-term residential care instead. There are multiple refined renovations needed for long term use. This project will cost at least $5,000, including beds, bedding, curtains, new stove, games, television, some flooring and cabinet repairs.

Holiday gifts for the children’s personal wishes and for their homes. The Friends of Joshua House has three homes with 12 children in each. Certain items are always needed, such as blenders for breakfast smoothies, bedding, pillows and towels.

“Our children are like all other children,” Grundel said. “They want what the other children in their schools have. We never want our kids to be ‘have nots,’ yet we still want them to appreciate the gifts they receive. We just want to make them happy.”

For information about East Lake Fire Rescue, go to elfr.org. To register for the run, go to racehawk.com.

East Lake Fire Rescue | 5K Run | Events Near Me | Joshua House | TB Reporter

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