Agape fundraiser hopes to fill gap

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This article was published 08/09/2015 (2757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

St. Andrews Church is once again organizing the Agape Table Hustle for Hunger fundraiser.
The 9th annual Hustle is taking place at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory on Sept. 19. It includes a three-kilometre walk, and a five- and ten-kilometre run.

Deanne and Tina Bennett of St. Andrews Church, with friend Ryan Leonard, are co-chairing the event. The couple got involved after volunteering at Siloam Mission, where they got the chance to serve food during meals.

“We liked the hands-on feel of giving back to people, giving nutrition to people,” Deanne said. “It’s like a basic human right, and it’s so important that people from all walks of life who maybe can’t afford it, still have their basic needs met.”

Agape Table, similar to Siloam Mission, provides meals to low-income families. Unlike Siloam, Agape doesn’t provide shelter as they rent space from Knox United Church during mealtimes. All the proceeds from the Hustle for Hunger event will go straight towards meals and other costs for Agape.

Following the running and walking events, there will be a waffle breakfast which is prepared by St. Andrews Church kitchen staff. There will also be donated pastries, salads and coffee available to the participants.

“There will also be a zumba warm-up and tai-chi cool-down,” Deanne said.

She said early bird registration is only $25 and includes a T-shirt, race kit, breakfast and the ability to enter raffle prizes. After Sept. 4, the registration fee is $30.

“We’re really excited to be doing this for the first year,” she said. “If you participate you have the knowledge that you’re helping out, and all the money goes to Agape.”

Deanne, previously working in the fitness industry, said she understands how important nutrition is to daily function. Agape offers $1 breakfasts, emergency soup and toast and subsidized grocery shopping. The grocery program offers food that is ranked by nutritional value, and families are allowed a set amount of items from high, medium and low categories of nutrition.

“The dollar breakfast empowers people to pay for and get a hearty breakfast,” Deanne said.

Hustle for Hunger starts at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory on Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. Online registration at: https://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=12134

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