Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County to Participate in Princeton Half Marathon and Meadows Miler

TRENTON, N.J. - July 26, 2018 - PRLog -- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County (https://www.bgcmercer.org/portal/home) will be participating in the HiTOPS Princeton Half Marathon and Meadows Miler to benefit Club kids.

In 2017, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County was welcomed as a Charity Partner in the Trenton Half Marathon. It was an amazing success for the Club as over $150,000 was raised for Trenton youth in the first year and first run ever done! Unfortunately, the Trenton Half Marathon announced in May that it will be canceled for 2018 because of low participation numbers.

"Since the Trenton Half Marathon was canceled this year we decided that we need to keep our Run for Club Kids mission going and searched for partners around the Mercer County area," said David Anderson, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County. "We are so happy that HiTOPS and PCDI welcomed us into their races with open arms. We hope to be able to reach our fundraising goal of $100,000 and are confident we can do so thanks to our amazing run co-chairs, Bill Sheehy and R.J. Lewis."

After some searching and calls to local races, HiTOPs (https://www.hitops.org/) and the Princeton Child Development Institute (https://pcdi.org/) had invited the Club to join their races. Although they are not on the same day, they are on the same weekend which created the new slogan, "2 races, 1 weekend, 1 cause!" The Boys & Girls Clubs are very excited to be able to participate in these races.

The HiTOPS Princeton Half Marathon is run by the non-profit HiTOPS, an adolescent sexual health education and support organization, which works with adolescents, their allies and families, and youth-serving professionals to support healthy relationships, informed decision-making, positive sexual health, supportive connections, and safe spaces. HiTOPS is located in Princeton, NJ and primarily provides services in Mercer County, as well as throughout the state.

"We are very pleased to open the HiTOPS Princeton Half Marathon to local non-profits this year. This partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County is particularly exciting in that this opens the door for our two youth-serving organizations to collaborate on programming. We are looking forward to working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County and other Charity Partners, and to the larger community coming together to support young people," said Lisa Shelby, Interim Executive Director of HiTOPS.

Meadows Miler, sponsored by many local businesses and families, benefits the Princeton Child Development Institute (PCDI) and after 500 runners in its first year, is planning for year two. Proceeds from the Meadows Miler benefit autism programs at PDCI. In 2017, they raised over $23,000 for their programs.

"Last year was the first year for Meadows Miler but it was something that I had been working on for a few years prior to the start," said Jennifer Peck-Nolte, founder and chairperson for Meadows Miler. "I wanted to combine my love for running and the community with support of PCDI and its impact on positive outcomes for local families who have children on the autism spectrum."

If you are interested in helping to support the Club's efforts to raise funds as part of this event, you can donate at our Run for Club Kids page (https://www.bgcmercer.org/portal/run-for-club-kids).

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About the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County has been providing children and teens with educational, career and enrichment activities through after school, weekend and summer programs for over 80 years. Today, the Club provides programs and services to 2,600 youth in the Greater Mercer County area that attend programs in our Centre Street Clubhouse in Trenton, six public school sites in Trenton, and the Spruce Street Community Center in Lawrence Township. For more information, visit www.bgcmercer.org.