On May 4, Union’s Student Nurses Association (SNA) will host the first annual Runnin’ Down a Dream 5K Walk/Run starting by the bell tower to benefit childhood cancer care and research at St. Jude. Check-in and day-of registration will open at 7:30 a.m., and the race will begin at 8 a.m. The registration fee is $20.
Union is one of the only universities to do clinical rotations at St. Jude. Students in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences have been able to see firsthand the kind of needs that exist along with the hospital’s mission of treating children, regardless of their families’ ability to pay the necessary bills. All proceeds from the 5K will be sent to St. Jude to be applied where they are most needed.
Callie Hauss, junior nursing major, serves as co-event coordinator for the SNA. She is excited to be involved with the Runnin’ Down a Dream 5K as she looks forward to beginning a clinical at St. Jude in the upcoming semester.
“The aspect of a community coming together to support a cause so great as pursuing a cure for childhood cancer is a beautiful picture of what the body of Christ should be doing on a daily basis, using our own unique gifts and talents to love and serve one another in the name of Christ,” said Hauss. “As a student nurse, I am always looking for ways to support and get more plugged into the healthcare community, and to me, this 5K is a great chance to do just that. It is also an amazing way to serve the greater community in general.”
Christin Frommer, a senior nursing major and president of the SNA, hopes that this race will become an annual tradition and include a wide variety of members of the Union community.
“I would definitely encourage anybody, even if they’re not in the nursing department,” said Frommer. “We really hope that this could become a whole campus-wide event, just anybody who would like to know that they’re supporting childhood cancer research and care.”
