The Rockland Road Runners presented checks totaling $52,000 to four local charities during the club’s general meeting Jan. 9 at the Nanuet Hotel.
The proceeds were generated from the club’s Thanksgiving Day 5-Mile Turkey Trot at Rockland Lake. The event attracted 3,183 registered entrants, a record for races held in Rockland County.
Turkey Trot race director David Goldwasser of Haverstraw presented a check for $37,500 to the Marisa Fund, of which he is executive director. The fund, named in memory of Goldwasser’s late daughter, is a charity that benefits children afflicted with cancer and their families. All proceeds support research in pediatric blood and bone marrow transplantation at Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and the Columbia University Department of Pediatrics.
Goldwasser also presented a check for $7,000 to People to People Executive Director Diane Serratore. People to People is Rockland’s largest food pantry, providing food and other services to families and seniors in need. A check for $5,000 was given to the Rockland County Police Hispanic Society Scholarship Fund, accepted by President Enrique Pabon and Vice President Elsa Sequinot, and a $2,500 check was handed to Vasculitis Foundation representatives David and Claudia Cohen of New City.
The Rockland Road Runners club is the county’s largest running organization. In 2012 the club raised more than $85,000 for local charities such as Meals on Wheels, Rockland Family Shelter/Center for Safety & Change, United Hospice of Rockland, People to People, the Marisa Fund, local fire departments and ambulance corps, and Hurricane Sandy relief aid.
For more information contact Jamie Kempton at president@rocklandroadrunners.org or visit www.rocklandroadrunners.org.
