By John Chambless
Staff Writer

This month, Carly Imbierowicz should have been graduating from Octorara High School with her friends and eagerly heading off to college. But instead, her mother, Donna, is putting together a remembrance of Carly's life, which was cut short by carbon monoxide poisoning on Nov. 22, 2014.

The Octorara Angels Rainbow Color Run will be held June 4 at Octorara Intermediate School in Atglen. It honors the memory of Carly and of Daulton Pointek, who drove to see a movie in Downingtown and succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust fumes drawn into the car through the air vents. They had pulled to the side of the road and fallen asleep due to the fumes from the faulty exhaust.

 Past events in Carly's name have raised funds for the American Cancer Society, Mitochondrial Disease awareness, the Special Olympics, the Octorara Sports Boosters, and help for repairing the community track. The Color Run will earmark donations to repairing the high-school track. Everyone is welcome – runners, walkers, children and families. In the past two years, there have been points of light for the families of both Carly and Daulton. Donna, her husband Matt, and their teenage son, Andy, have poured themselves into fundraisers and awareness campaigns about carbon monoxide, an odorless gas that is created wherever fuel is burned. It can seep from home furnaces, automobiles or generators. Without proper ventilation, it causes gradual asphyxiation and death.

A Facebook page for the event reads, “The goal of the run is to celebrate the lives of our loved ones and to cherish our memories of them. In addition, the run kicks off OA Best, a day full of activities for the whole family that highlights the very best of the Octorara School District and community.

“The non-competitive color run is all about having fun with family and friends, while being showered with a rainbow of color throughout the course. It will start in front of the Octorara Intermediate School and wind its way through the 5K course used by the Octorara Cross Country Team. The start/finish area is next to the parking area in front of the school.”

There will be music, and food and drink at the site. Registration on June 4 begins at 7:30 a.m., there's a pre-race “rainbow shower” at 8:50 a.m., and the run begins at 9 a.m. Runners age 13 and older can enter for $30 if entries are postmarked by May 22, and will get a race T-shirt which can be worn during the run. The fee increases to $35 after May 22 and on race day, and will include the T-shirt while supplies last. Participants ages 12 and younger are $15 up to the day of the run.

“Carly truly was the happiest person I ever met,” Donna Imbierowicz said. “She was very well known for her smile.”

Donna is focused on working with legislators to get more regulations passed about carbon monoxide dangers. “That's how I'm doing it, by keeping busy,” she said. “With faith, hope and love, Carly changed the world.”

For more information, visit www.CMIawareness.org, or search on Facebook for the Octorara Angels Rainbow Color Run (www.facebook.com/events/1629893467231168). The school is at 221 Highland Road in Atglen.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].