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COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT Law Week Fun Run: A Fun, Healthy Way to Raise Money for a Worthy Cause By Heidi Gumienny For 24 years, the Law Week Fun Run Committee of the Houston Bar Association has been raising money to benefit persons with mental retardation by offering a healthy fundraiser: the John J. Eikenburg Law Week Fun Run. The Fun Run benefits The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation, a private non-profit agency of the United Way. The Center supports adults with developmental disabilities through educational, residential and work training programs, so that these individuals can achieve their maximum potential. The Center, which has served the Houston community for over 60 years, includes a West Dallas campus, which offers vocational programs, day habilitation, adult day care, and residential care, and the Willow River Farms facility, which offers rural, family-style living for adults with developmental disabilities. To date, over $816,000 has been raised for The Center through the Law Week Fun Run. The John J. Eikenburg Law Week Fun Run features an 8K race, a one-mile children’s race, a non-competitive one-mile family walk, and a wheelchair division in the 8K. After the race, unique trophies, hand-made by residents of the Center, are awarded to the top three male and female finishers in the competitive runs in each age category. Law firms and legal departments may also compete for the Traveling President’s Trophy, awarded to the fastest, all-lawyer, three-person team, and law students may vie for the Traveling Law School Trophy, awarded to the first place all-student 8K team from the same law school. The responsibilities of a member of the Law Week Fun Run Committee are divided into two segments: (1) the months leading up to race day and (2) pre-race activities and race day. In the months leading up to race day, committee members’ primary focus is fund-raising, which is mostly done by soliciting funds from law firms and organizations that may have sponsored the Fun Run in prior years or are potential new underwriters. In the spring before the race, committee members spend their time soliciting team entries from various law firms and other organizations and distributing brochures to increase both individual and team entries. Working with students from the Art Institute of Houston, who submit logo designs, the committee members vote on a winning design that is featured on the brochure and race-day t-shirts. Committee members also solicit donations from local restaurants and stores as door prizes that are awarded to race participants. Pre-race activities involve the organization, stuffing and distribution of race packets to participants and teams and the gathering of the race-day supplies. On race day, the committee members’ responsibilities include the following activities: setting up the race, overseeing race-day registration, coordinating the races and walk, assisting with the race-day refreshments and entertainment for the post-race party, and clean up. When asked what she enjoyed about co-chairing the Fun Run Committee, Dora Martinez described her motivation as follows: “It takes a lot of people, both committee members and others, to pull this off. It was great to have the run come together through our collective efforts and to see the residents of the center thrilled by their medals, the door prizes and other goodies they received. It gives one a warm feeling and a sense of a job well done.” For additional information regarding the Law Week Fun Run Committee, please contact the 2008-2009 co-chairs: Dora Martinez of Baker Botts at dora.martinez@bakerbotts.com or David Moncure of Shell Oil Company at David.Moncure@shell.com, or the HBA office at 713-759-1133. Heidi J. Gumienny is an associate at Gordon & Rees LLP and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board |
