ST. GEORGE — Tan’s Treats is holding the “Hungry Hustle Ugly Sweater 5k Run” for the third consecutive year to garner support for a program that provides thousands of meals to more than 600 Washington County schoolchildren who may otherwise go without.
The spirited holiday 5K fundraising event and food drive will be held Dec. 1 at Crosby Confluence Park, 1953 S. Convention Center Drive, St. George.
Pre-run festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. and the 5K run begins at 10:30 a.m.
Each of the five kilometers will be marked with fun activities including tinsel, Christmas trees, snowballs, candy canes, a selfie with Santa and much more.
The Tan’s Treats food drive will also take place during the festivities and items can be dropped off at the park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“So find your ugliest sweater, put on your running shoes and be prepared for a fun run filled with Christmas joy, and a whole lot of happy, non-hungry kids,” Nicole Goulding said.
In Utah, more than 380,000 people are struggling with hunger – and roughly 142,300 are children, and more than half of all Utah families receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Tan’s Treats is on a mission to change that and needs the community’s support.
Tan’s Treats, a family-run operation staffed by volunteers, provides 20,000 meals each month to Washington County schoolchildren who may otherwise go without. The meals help children obtain the nutrition they need during the weekend when school lunch programs are not available, allowing the kids to arrive at school ready to learn and develop properly.
The nonprofit organization packs a weekend bag of food consisting of three meals and one snack for both Saturday and Sunday. The bags are delivered to schools where staff give them to children who have opted into the program.
In addition to the weekend bags, the program also provides family meal bags that include items to be prepared for the family during school breaks, such as Christmas or spring vacations.
“100 percent of the proceeds go to weekend meals for Washington County children,” Goulding said.
Tis the season to support the cause
Last year, Tan’s Treats packed 9,255 meals that included breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 1,200 snacks for the children and their families during the Thanksgiving break, enough food for the five-day period, and those numbers doubled during the Christmas break.
In 2016 more than 160 individuals participated in the Hungry Hustle Ugly Sweater 5k Run that raised $6,500, which provided 21,000 meals, in addition to the $600 in food that was collected.
Today, the organization provides the meals to nearly 700 children enrolled in several elementary schools, but there are 25 schools and more than 12,000 students who qualify for and would benefit from the program.
Items needed for the food drive include nonperishable, easy-to-open packaging that is individually wrapped and easy enough for kids to make themselves, including instant oatmeal packets, fruit cups, cans of Vienna sausage or tuna and ramen noodles, to name a few.
To sign up for the 5K run, click here.
Event details
- What: Tan’s Treats Hungry Hustle Ugly Sweater 5K Run and Food Drive.
- When: Saturday, Dec.1. Packets can be picked up and pre-run festivities begin at 9:30 a.m.; 5K run begins at 10:30 a.m. Items for the Tan’s Treats Food Drive can be dropped off at the park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Where: Crosby Confluence Park, 1953 S. Convention Center Drive, St. George.
- Registration fee: $25 for single entry; family entry – up to six members, $65, and $5 for each additional family member.
- Early signup available here. Participants can also sign up on the day of the event.
For more information go to Tan’s Treats Facebook page or call 435-627-3163.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.
I am getting really tired of this Cloud9 vapor ad. I am a real smoker. I smoke real cigarettes, like a man does. I refuse to grow a man bun, buy a satchel, and I will not drive a Subaru Outback, Not to mention I don’t wear scull caps in July. I am not quite cool enough to carry a 10lb piece of hardware around in my pocket. That Vapor stuff will kill you faster than a real cigarette will. I only say that because a pack of cigarettes wont blow up in my pocket. Some of the latest studies show its worse than cigarettes ever were. They need to ban the ads, because more kids are smoking this crap. “they” banned cigarette commercials because of the kids smoking cigs. They need to do the same for vapor. Not to mention, its smells worse than a cigarette and produces way more smoke. Sorry vapor. Its annoying when some scull cap wearing hipster is blowing that crap in my face at the club and I can’t smoke my cig and drink my Jack and Coke at the bar. GO FALCONS!
Amen to that. Vape is absolutely disgusting. Please please, for those of you that vape, take up or return to smoking!