By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

On the morning of May 19, along the muddy and rainy trail of this year's Kennett Run – a day more reserved for hibernating than for running – hundreds of participants in this annual Kennett Square tradition made their way past a supportive community that had come to cheer them on.

Several high-fives were exchanged, and chants of encouragement were heard from Walnut Street to State Street to Anson B. Nixon Park.

If the first wave of the mission and purpose of the Kennett Run is defined by these moments, then it's the race's second wave that completes the entire circle of a concept, begun nearly 30 years ago, that has given more than $1 million back to the community it supports.

On Oct. 11 at the Genesis Healthcare atrium lobby, 44 Kennett-area service organizations were the recipients of $63,091 in grants from Kennett Run Charities, Inc., which was topped by a $15,000 grant to Anson B. Nixon Park Road and Trail Project, that will go toward landscaping, paving and drainage improvements in the park.

The gift-giving ceremony served to showcase the three key goals of Kennett Run:

  • The achievement of sustainable camaraderie among Kennett area service organizations and citizens, and the fostering of an esprit de corps among the ethnically, economically, and occupationally diverse groups that comprise the community.

    • The establishment of a fundraising vehicle that would net ever-increasing sums for expenditure to promote the general well-being and civic betterment of Kennett area residents, organizations and projects; and

    • The showcasing of the town of Kennett Square and its environs by drawing participants and spectators from the region, the nation and perhaps even the world.

“These funds have an immediate and positive impact on the entire Kennett Square community,” said Kennett Run Charities, Inc. President B. Christopher Daney. “We appreciate the respect that people continue to have for the Kennett Run, and what our board, our volunteers, our local police and fire departments and the Kennett Borough have done to put together a safe race.”

Kennett Run Race Director J.J. Simon said that sponsorships of the event play a huge part in funding levels.

“Kennett Run Charities was able to raise more funding than last year, despite the fact that we had poor weather on race day, and it was because of being able to acquire more sponsors,” he said.

While Kennett Run Charities always attempts to make fair and equitable contributions to as many organizations as possible each year, some distributions are made to help a particular service group make it through tough times. When members read that Camp Dreamcatcher was the victim of a flood that had destroyed over $9,000 worth of supplies this year, the organization – which offers a safe community for children coping with HIV/AIDS – received a $1,000 contribution from Kennett Run Charities.

Ask any member or volunteer with the Kennett Run and they will say that preparation for the next year's race begins soon after the end of the current year's race. Planning now for next year is no exception: The 30th annual Kennett Run will be held on May 11, 2019, and its theme will wrap itself around Mother’s Day weekend.

Simon said that the date was chosen from a usually busy Kennett-area event calendar.

“We originally considered holding the 2019 Kennett Run the Saturday after Mother's Day Weekend, but we found that doing so would overlap with several other events in town, such as the Girls on the Run race and the Tough Mudder, a two-day event in Unionville,” he said. “ We felt that having the race one week earlier would not have those conflicts, and we're also hoping that the date would bring in more competitors.”

“We intend to come up with a mother-and-daughter and family type of run, in a way to have families involved with the race,” Daney said. “The closer we get to January 1, when the registration for the 2019 race becomes available on our website, we'll very likely have a more solid agenda, regarding next year's theme.”

To learn more about the Kennett Run and its Kennett Run Charities, Inc., or to have your organization be considered for a grant in 2019, visit www.kennettrun.net.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].

Kennett Run Charities, Inc. 2018 Recipients

$2,000 and up

Kennett Area Community Services – Food Cupboard

Kennett Area Park Authority – Anson B. Nixon Park

Kennett Consolidated School District WIN Program

Kennett Area YMCA

Lions Club of Kennett Square

Longwood Rotary

Rotary Club of Kennett Square

$1,500 - $1,999

Avondale Fire Company

Garage Community & Youth Center – Kennett Square

Garage Community & Youth Center – West Grove

Good Neighbors, Inc.

Kennett Fire Company No. 1

Longwood Fire Company

Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company

Tick Tock Early Learning Center

$1,000 - $1,499

Adult Literacy Program, Kennett Library

Camp Dreamcatcher

Crime Victims' Center of Chester County, Inc.

Domestic Violence Center of Chester County

Family Promise of Southern Chester County

Kacie's Cause

Kennett After School Association

Kennett Area Senior Center

La Communidad Hispana

Wings for Success

Young Moms

$500-$999

Brandywine Red Clay Alliance

Chester County Arts Association

Community Volunteers in Medicine

Girl Scouts of Easter Pa. - Brandywine Service Unit

Historic Kennett Square

Kennett Education Foundation

Kennett Flash

Kennett Unionville Band Boosters

Living Bridges

Maternal and Child Health Consortium

Meals on Wheels of Chester County – Avon Grove Chapter

Oxford Area Neighborhood Services Center

Spanish Health Ministry

The Barn at Spring Brook Farm

Unionville Chadds Ford Education Foundation

Youth Community Forward

$250-$499

Family Service of Chester County

KATS Inc. Pantomine