The 6th Annual Stafford Run for Hope presented by D Finelli Construction and Lou’s Electric to benefit David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation took place on Saturday June 17th. We had 227 athletes converge on Manahawkin Lake Park early Saturday morning under overcast skies and temps around 80’. Race Director Ross Reynolds created this event 6 years ago. Ross reached out to his friend and former Ship Bottom Lifeguard teammate, David Caldarella a couple years ago to see if the two could partner on this event to benefit local families battling a cancer diagnosis. Ross and his wife Marissa do an amazing job every year with the event and Survival of the Mills which will take place on a new date this year, Sunday September 24, 2017. Thank you, Ross and Marissa.
A special thank you to the Stafford Police Department and Officer Chris Fritz for all your support.
Thank you to our Presenting Sponsors, Lou’s Electric and D Finelli Construction. Lou Manganiello from Lou’s Electric and Dave Finelli from D Finelli Construction and their teams support our mission of HOPE for families battling a cancer diagnosis throughout the year. The two companies were recognized earlier this year as our newest community partners. Thank you to Lou, Dave and your teams.
A huge thank you to our new friends at Manafirkin Brewing Company for hosting our after-party and award ceremony for the 6th Annual Stafford Run for Hope. If you have not been to Manafirkin yet – do yourself a favor and get there! Thank you to Bagels & Beyond and Fusaro’s Pizza & Pasta for donating all the food for this year’s event.
Thank you to our amazing volunteers. We say it time and time again but we really do have the best volunteers in the world. It takes a tremendous number of volunteers to staff an event like the 6th Annual Stafford Run for Hope. Thank you for giving of your time to “Pay it Forward” for others.
We have amazing volunteers but we would not have an event without our athletes. 227 athletes were ready to swim, bike and/or run to test their own physical endurance Saturday morning while understanding that many in our community are fighting for their lives every single day. We recognize our athletes “fight” and appreciate their support!
We want to thank our youth group Generation Dream families and kids for fundraising and supporting this event. We also had several of our Generation Dream families volunteering along the race route at various water stations. A special thanks to Kim Manzella and Steve Crisalli.
Thank you to our graphic artists and friends at Swing Graphics for all the design and marketing materials for this event. Dawn and Pete are also responsible for our newest event in 2016, Shave the Date which will take place on Friday November 24, 2017. Thank you to our friends and community partners at Jetty for printing this year’s event shirts and a special thanks to Brad Bargiel for always working under stressful time constraints but always delivering for the Dream Team. Thank you to Charlie Kulp from Shore Brake Cyclery for all your support on this event and throughout the year.
Thank you to DQ Events, Surf City Lifeguards, LBI TriClub, Stafford Township Recreation Department and Ocean County Parks & Recreation.
