Training for a 10k Race

Quinn Slayton is the Volunteer Program Manager at Community Action. Over the next few weeks, she will be recording her progress as she trains for the Have a Heart Run 10k Race.

My Valentine’s Day present to myself was deciding to run in Community Action's Have a Heart Run 10k race. What a better way to show my love for my community, my organization, and for my health! I’ve been an active member of the HAHR steering committee all year, but I had never considered participating because….I’m not a runner! Whenever I see a runner plodding along the pavement on a dreary damp day, I think, “Gee whiz, he looks miserable!” Though I was on the track team in high school, my only attempts at “running” consisted of the 7 steps it took to propel my body over the high jump bar.

My resolution this year was to take better care of myself: getting more rest, eating right, and exercising. After a week into my own made-up exercise routine, however, I discovered that I was losing interest. Who cares if I don’t get up this morning for a jog? My dog certainly doesn’t care to be forced into the dark damp morning, and neither do I.

I didn’t care because I didn’t have a specific goal in mind. After a HAHR committee meeting, the light bulb came on, “Whoa, I could run this race!” Not only did it give me a specific reason to work out, it also gave me a great excuse to buy a new pair of shoes (which is always a great motivator for me).

Now that I had a goal in mind and a sweet new pair of shoes on my feet, it was time to figure out the best way to get started. I found this simple 8 week training plan by Googling “10k training plan.” I ran it (haha) by one of my hard core marathon-runner friends, and she gave it the thumbs up. I printed it off, put it on my refrigerator, and now I’m ready to begin!

Stay tuned for next week where I'll share the painful but rewarding experience of my first week of training!

Have a Heart Run 2010

On May 22, 2010, 130 runners and walkers and over 50 volunteers braved the weather in support of Community Action’s first annual Have a Heart Run fundraiser. The 10k run and 2 mile run/walk course ran along the beautiful Skagit River dike just south of Edgewater Park in Mount Vernon. Children of all ages participated helping us raise over $10,000!

Awards were given to the top times for both male and female in each division. In the 10k division Kevin Olsen with a best time for males at 36:07, took home his trophy and Dena Goder at 44:04 took home her trophy for the female. Tracy Tesarik with a time of 22:47 secured her trophy as did Lester Bradford at age 84 came in with a time of 25:14 in the 2 mile division. Good job everyone!

Community Action has six major areas of focus for its 35 plus programs and runners who raised the most pledges for an area of focus received a basket put together by the staff in that area. Here are the top earners for each area of focus:
1. Crisis Intervention: Theresa Westfall
2. Housing and Shelter: Ken Dahlstedt
3. Food Access and Nutrition: Mary Evitt
4. Health Care Access: Christine Johnson
5. Education, Literacy, and Job Skills: Mary Clarity
6. Volunteerism: Jenn Cline
7. Area of Greatest Need: Eric Irelan

Over 50 volunteers (a total of 211 hours), all wearing lime green T-shirts, contributed too to the success of this event. Volunteers helped with the set-up and tear-down of all the tents, many helped with the registration and preparing the food, and manning the much needed water station while others helped with course safety and timing.

Community Action would like to thank all those who participated in our First Annual Have a Heart Run event, especially to the Skagit Volunteer Center for helping recruit all these wonderful volunteers and the volunteers themselves who gave of their time and energy to make this event the success that it was. We hope to see you there next year!

Thank You Cargill

Community Action would like to thank Jackie Bailey, Bob Hill, and the Cargill Corporation for the generous donation of $5,000 to purchase food for the low-income and homeless people in Skagit County.

A special thank you to Jackie Bailey who applied for the Nourishing People Challenge Fund Grant through the Cargill corporate office after reading about the need from our website.

Bill Henkel, Executive Director
Skagit County Community Action Agency
Mount Vernon

Featured Volunteer: Mary Evitt

Mary Evitt comes to Skagit County Community Action as a volunteer through AmeriCorps’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program. She works with the Food Access team to help fight hunger in Skagit County. As a retired journalist, former restaurateur and an avid gardener, Mary brings a whole host of skills, experience and passion to her work with Community Action.

In her tenure, Mary has supported the Food Bank Distribution Center by keeping food bank food orders sorted and even recruiting other volunteers to help with this task. She has supported the Skagit Food Share Alliance, a joint effort of Community Action, North Coast Credit Union and the Skagit Valley Co-op that links food banks with more fresh produce from local farmers.

Mary’s latest adventure is the launch of the new “Victory Gardens.” This program encourages home gardeners to donate excess produce from their gardens or fruit trees to food banks through the Distribution Center. Mary has developed outreach materials including a “Veg Pledge” people can sign to remind them to donate their garden surplus. Participants also get a Victory Gardens sign, a colorful and inspiring marker for home gardeners to identify their participation in efforts to end hunger.

All of these efforts work to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to those in our community who are in need of healthy food choices. Thanks to Mary for spreading the word and “planting the seeds” to get Victory Gardens up and running.

Have a Heart Run

1st Annual Have a Heart Run

10k Run & 2 Mile Run/Walk

A benefit for Skagit County Community Action

When: May 22, 2010

Registration: Pre-register by May 19th: $30

Day of Race Registration: $35

On-line registration: http://www.databarevents.com/heart.asp

T-Shirts: $15 (limited quantities on day of race)

Time: 9:30am (Registration is from 8:15-9:15am)

More information on-line at

http://www.skagitcap.org/post/Have-a-Heart-Run.aspx



Edgewater Park Course Description
Community Action's first annual Have a Heart Run will begin at the beautiful Edgewater Park in Mount Vernon. The 10k race course is fairly flat and runs south along parts of the Skagit River dikes and beautiful farm lands. As part of the course is run on the road, it will be clearly marked for safety. One water station will be located at approximately mile marker 3.

The 2 mile run/walk course runs along the dike and is safe for the entire family. This year's race is professionally managed by Skagit Runners and unofficial results will be posted at the finish line with final results posted on our website (www.skagitcap.org).


Who will this benefit?
Have a Heart Run is a major fundraising event to benefit Skagit County Community Action. Each year Community Action helps over 36,000 low-income people rise out of crisis and onto self-sufficiency.


How can your involvement have a greater impact?
To make this fundraiser more successful, please consider approaching your friends, family, and cohorts to make a tax-deductible donation in honor of your run/walk. Use this pledge form to help keep track of your pledges.

MAIL IN DONATIONS: Please mail all checks to Skagit County Community Action, 330 Pacific Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273. Be sure to mention your donation was prompted by the Have a Heart Run and put the runner you are sponsoring in the memo line.

ON-LINE DONATIONS: Click here to make a donation online. Be sure to mention your donation was prompted by the Have a Heart Run and put the runner you are sponsoring in the comments box.


Interested in volunteering for this event?
To volunteer, sign up on-line at http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/skagit/vcindex.do



Thank you.
Susan Lange
Have a Heart Run Coordinator
360-416-7585 ext 1167
susanl@skagitcap.org

Heart Story: Advocate for Mental Health Client

This story was submitted by Chuck Davis, Mental Health Ombuds

Mental health Ombuds has a client who presented early in 2010 with a sad story. The client had a history of alcohol abuse and mental illness. He had suffered terrific bodily injury due to things that happened to him while he was under the influence of alcohol. Although he was living in a “clean and sober house” when we met him, the house was neither clean nor sober. He was trying his best to maintain sobriety and was extremely frustrated with that living situation. He had fairly recently been through the court and criminal justice system. He told Ombuds he had received unfavorable treatment, rejection and neglect from a number of community “helping” agencies. He stated that his mental health services were lacking and had set him up for failure. Saddest of all, he was out of options, had nowhere to turn, and was thinking about going back to drinking. He told Ombuds, “I might as well give up and stay drunk until I die, for all the good it does me to try to find real help.”

He found a Skagit County Community Action Agency flyer promising that their mental health Ombuds would do their best to assist him. Shortly after his initial call, Ombuds had obtained a medical release form and was at work helping him. Ombuds initiated complaints and grievances about his treatment through his mental health services agency and arranged several face-to-face meetings with that agency. Ombuds subsequently promoted his interests through an intense grievance process with the North Sound Mental Health Administration, the region’s public mental health authority.

Ombuds empowered him to transfer his mental health treatment to a different provider agency that provided him proper mental health treatment. Ombuds also worked on his behalf between the local housing authority and his new provider agency and found him a suitable home within three weeks. The client is now committed to sobriety, has a very positive outlook, is volunteering at a community drop-in center and is working with an agency to find a job. He recently stated, “This is the absolute best I have ever been!”

Dine to Donate with Community Action and Applebees

Please join SKAGIT COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY and for our MONTHLY FUNDRAISING EVENT to benefit Community Action's FOOD ACCESS PROGRAMS: Mobile Food Express, Food Bank Distribution Center, Skagit Food Share Alliance

Starting in 2010, print and bring this flyer in on the 1ST THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH to Applebee’s and they will donate 15% of your total bill to Community Action to benefit the food access programs! Lunch, dinner, and Carside-to-go orders!

Mark your calendars:
Feb. 4
March 4
April 1
May 6
June 3
July 1
Aug. 5
Sept. 2
Oct. 7
Nov. 4
Dec. 2

Only at the Applebee's Restaurant located in Burlington * (360) 757-1414

*One flyer per ticket

* Please do not distribute flyers in or around the restaurant