IU Habitat for Humanity presents annual 5k run

On one of the colder, drearier days since spring has arrived, IU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter held its 11th annual 5K run/walk in Bloomington.

The run, which started Saturday at Lower Cascades Park, brought in more than 100 runners of varying ages and abilities to help raise money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity.

Awards were given to the overall male and female winners, age-group winners and largest IU group, greek organization, community group and local school group. The organization is still unsure how much total money was raised.

Meghann Horton, co-major events director, said the race had quite a good turnout, although she was still nervous about it a few weeks ago.

“Originally, three weeks before the race, we were getting nervous because there were not very many participants registered,” she said. “But in the last week before the race, people kept on registering and we had quite a few more people register the morning of the race.”

About 150 people ended up participating, said Savreen Kaur, co-major events director.

“People of all ages participated, from 1-year-olds to 64, 65-year-olds,” she said.

Both Horton and Kaur said they believe the race was not just about raising money, but also raising awareness concerning what Habitat does.

“Other than helping to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, this race brings out the awareness of substandard housing in our very own community that people oftentimes are unaware of,” Horton said.

Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976, but the Monroe County chapter, which IU supports, was not founded until 1988. The organization helps build houses in low-income communities.

According to IU’s Habitat Web site, the houses are sold at no profit, and financial support comes from donations and events such as this one.

Major events publicity director and sophomore Amanda Sorrentino said she believes there are many ways for students to get involved, and a major way is participating in the events Habitat puts on, such as the fall Rake-a-Thon and Bucket 100 Bike Tour.

“Anyone can participate,” she said. “You don’t need to be a previous member, and you don’t need to build houses.”