FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Jordan Lacenski

336.430.0523

[email protected]

78 participating Nonprofit Organizations

551 Participants

GREENSBORO, June 25th, 2020 -- Like many events, The 2020 Human Race fundraiser and 5k became virtual. The 26th annual fundraiser is facilitated by the Volunteer Center of the Triad and allows participants to raise money for their favorite nonprofit! This year, registrants were able to run, walk, roll, wag their 5k or 1-mile distance anywhere on their own between June 13th and 19th. The virtual awards ceremony and celebration took place on Saturday, June 20th. The virtual changes didn’t stop people from donating to 78 participating nonprofits, raising a total of $107,962.43. 

The live ceremony included introductions and even some videos from the 78 participating nonprofit organizations. Sponsors stood by the event offering awards, community messages, and financial support. The program ended with confetti celebrations for breaking the $100,000 milestone in fundraising and announcing awards for the fastest runners as well as fun photo opportunity winners from our Novant Health sponsored Virtual Photo Booth.  

Those who raced were able to use a GPS driven app on their phones to track their time. Fastest 5k Runners were: 

• Men: 
  • Jacob Perkins, time: 23:32
  • Yonas Tsegaye, time: 23:59
  • Caleb Turmel, time: 25:23
• Women
  • Blaine Haddis, time: 24:09
  • Paige Sprinkle, time 25:59
  • Beth Sanders, time 26:01

The live program also included entertainment by local musicians Emma Lee Millard, who kicked off the program with the national anthem, as well as five songs by J. Timber and Kate Musselwhite Tobey, including J.Timber’s original song, Love Revolution. A half-time celebration featured over twenty Bank of America Triad employees who cheered on our community to race to the fundraising finish line and help each nonprofit reach their fundraising goals.

The top three company fundraising teams were: 

• Bank of America, raising over $14,200 for 13 nonprofit organizations, 
• Weaver Cooke Construction, raising over $1,200 for three nonprofit organizations, and 
• Renewal By Andersen, raising $735 for Operation Paws for Homes. 

“It is more important than ever to support the critical work of all of our local non-profits that are helping Triad residents in unprecedented ways through this pandemic,” said Derek Ellington, Bank of America Triad Market President. “We are proud to support the virtual race this year both financially and through the participation of a number of Bank of America employees.”

The top five nonprofits teams were: 

• Haynes-Inman Education Center PTA raising $6,709.95,
• Bingo Pet Hospice raising $5,098.20,
• Herbin-Metz Education Center PTA raising $5,043.98,
• Interactive Resource Center, raising $4,168.74, and 
• Epilepsy Alliance NC raising $4,107.25.

The top ten individual fundraisers were:

• Shelley Wheeler of Bank of America, raising $6,000 for Community Housing Solutions and the Women’s Resource Center,
• Jan Linder, raising $5,000 for Bingo Pet Hospice,
• Lauren Roach of Bank of America, raising over $4,000 for Ruff Love Rescue,
• Heather Pryor raising over $3,200 for the Epilepsy Alliance of NC,
• Amy Underwood, raising over $1,800 for Haynes-Inman Education Center PTA,
• Kellie Gallerani, raising over $1,300 for the Interactive Resource Center,
• Blaine Haddis, raising over $1,300 for the NC African Service Coalition,
• Rachel Summerlee, raising over $1,200 for the Interactive Resource Center,
• Michelle Kennedy, raising over $1,100 for the Interactive Resource Center, and 
• Gloria Gamble, raising over $1,000 for the Triad Golden Retriever Rescue.

“The Human Race has become a community staple in its 26-year tenure and to cancel it when our nonprofits needed it more than ever was never an option.  Making it a virtual event allowed us to continue on with many Human Race traditions and introduce some new, innovative ones too.  But most importantly it allowed for 78 nonprofits supporting our community, including The Volunteer Center of the Triad, to raise over $100,000. And we are so grateful for the continued support of our sponsors that took us to the Fundraising Finish Line!” - Carley Swaim Walker, Executive Director of The Volunteer Center of the Triad 

The Human Race is a nationwide, community fundraising event for participants to raise money for their favorite nonprofit by running, walking, or rolling and even wagging their way to the finish line. This year looked much different yet was equally successful. To date, the Human Race has raised over $5.1 million for our local non-profit community in the last 26 years. 

To view the awards ceremony and see a list of all participating nonprofits, visit https://thehumanrace5k.org/. 

Contact [email protected] for more information.

Thank you to our sponsors: 

Bank of America has sponsored since 2001 and has been the presenting 5k sponsor since 2004 and is returning for this 26th annual Human Race. They also participated as fundraisers for 13 different nonprofit organizations and have been the top company fundraisers ever year. 

Additional repeat sponsors are Dick’s Broadcasting, WFMY News 2, Arch Mortgage Insurance, Jimmy’s Plumbing, American National Bank, Griswold Home Care,  Zoës Kitchen, Kneaded Energy, and Little Guy’s Movers.

New this year, we have support and sponsorship from Novant Health, Renewal By Andersen, Truliant Federal Credit Union, Sequoia Services, Right Fit Storage, Smoothie King, Joy Squad, The Inspira Agency, Yes! Weekly, Hand in Hand Water Safety, Good Health Greensboro, and Biscuitville.

About The Volunteer Center of the Triad

The mission of The Volunteer Center is to strengthen our community by creating meaningful volunteer connections. We connect people, promote volunteerism, support nonprofits, and build partnerships. For more information about TVC, please visit www.volunteercentertriad.org.

Our media kit can be found HERE.

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