More than 1,000 people took part in the sixth annual Katie’s Run in New Hyde Park to participate in the 5K run and two-mile walk on Sunday.
The event, which has been held annually since 2010, honors the memory of Katie McBride, a cancer victim who died at age 11 in 2008.
The money raised from the race allows the McBride family to make a generous donation to the Ronald McDonald House, where the McBride family stayed during the nine months that their daughter spent in the hospital.
In past years, the family has been able to donate $15,000 to the house, according to Katie’s father and event coordinator, Mike McBride.
Although all the money has not been counted, McBride said, he expects to be able to donate the same amount again this year.
“It’s a great organization, and the people there were fantastic,” he said. “We have made a long-term commitment to continue to support them.”
In addition to raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House, he added, the race also helps to raise funds for local families.
This year, he said, donations from the race will help to benefit a student at Garden City Park Grade School suffering with stomach tumors.
So far, the race has allowed the family to donate over $60,000 to local families and other worthy causes.
McBride, who serves as the director of the New Hyde Park Funeral Home, said his family first came up with the idea of holding the race about a year after Katie died from a rare childhood cancer known as Burkitt’s Lymphoma.
“I didn’t think Katie was here long enough to have the impact she would’ve had if she had lived a full life,” he said. “I wanted her to be remembered and memorialized.”
He said each year he gathers with his volunteers six months prior to the event to begin organizing and planning.
Typically, he said, he begins advertising the event via email about two months prior to the date.
Volunteers involved with the event planning range from friends of the family to community members, but McBride said that the members of the New Hyde Park Fire Department are the most involved members in terms of making the event happen.
“They exceed all of our expectations. If there’s a tough task, they handle it,” McBride said of the fire department.
At the event, Leslie and Alice Hall of Hall’s Carpets were honored with the Sponsor of the Year award.
McBride said that this honor is “long overdue,” as the Halls provide all tables, tents, chairs for the event, as well as the registration tables that are set up prior to the race.
Following the run and walk, the event had its first bone marrow donation drive through the Be the Match foundation. Nine people registered on Sunday.
“Hopefully they’ll save someone’s life,” McBride said.
A barbeque also took place following the race, with food provided by the Inn at New Hyde Park and the Sakowich family.
The McBride family also holds another annual event called Katie’s Koncert, which allows them to raise money for college scholarships in Katie’s memory.
The family gives one $1,500 scholarship to a Chaminade High School student, as well as giving $1,000 each to one male and one female student from the high schools in both Floral Park and East Islip.
He said that he hopes to increase the amount of these scholarships in the future.
“Selfishly, it helps us get through our day,” McBride said of the race. “We’re doing good and able to help people.”
