‘Largest donation’ yet: FRESH 15 race benefits 30 East Texas nonprofits
Published 5:45 am Friday, April 5, 2024
- Rosemary Jones, Chief People Officer/Legal. (Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
Brookshire Grocery Company (BGC) presented $184,500 to more than 30 nonprofit organizations across East Texas from funds raised during the 11th annual FRESH 15 Race.
“I’m proud to say that this year is the largest donation that we’ve ever given back to our community,” said Ashleigh Endicott, BGC Racing Director. “It was truly the best race… it was a momentous one for us as it was our first year to have a complete and total sellout at FRESH 15 after 11 years.”
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The race is a morning of fun and exercise while benefiting a good cause.
“This team has worked very hard because it’s not just a race, it’s an experience,” said Rosemary Jones, Chief People Officer, Legal of BGC.
There were over 4,500 runners that participated in this year’s FRESH 15, which was 300-plus more than the year prior, and at least 39 of those runners have run every year since the inaugural race.
“We have 26% more of this year’s runners… and we had 27 states represented along with three different countries,” Jones said.
The race has given back more than $1.7 million into the East Texas community since its start 11 years ago.
“I am the mother who started this nonprofit with another mother,” said Casey McCoy, co-founder and director of operations for the Neurodivergent Advocates of East Texas. “Two years ago, we met by chance at a park here in Tyler, but because of HIPAA, we couldn’t connect through therapy. Our kids were both at the same clinic.”
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What started out as a playdate group once a month with five families turned into 100 families within a year.
“We are now at 868 families registered within our nonprofit that attend our regular nine events a month,” McCoy said. “If it wasn’t for Brookshire’s Grocery Company and FRESH 15 for supporting our activities, we would not exist.”
McCoy’s daughter, who will be 10 years old in June, was nonverbal and later diagnosed with autism.
“She has done the FRESH race for 10 years,” McCoy said. “So, it is a very big deal for her to run this race, and she always tells us now that she’s verbal, that she’s gonna win it this year. She ran the majority of the race. Sometimes we walk, but she’s been very competitive and running is kind of her thing now.”
The nonprofit applied as 501©(3) in July of last year.
“With the funding that we receive from Brookshire’s Grocery Company and FRESH 15, we are able to grow and offer more and more programs,” McCoy said.
Amanda Storer, Public Relations Officer for Tyler Area AMBUCS, talked about the nonprofit.
“Our mission is to create mobility and independence for those with disabilities in our community in different ways than maybe some of our other chapters do across the nation,” Storer said.
Tyler Area Ambucs is one of over 160 chapters in the country. The national nonprofit has chapters and boasts over 4,000 members across the United States.
The nonprofit organization’s main cause is the Amtryke Adaptive Tricycles, which allows people of all ages who have difficulty riding a standard bicycle to ride. This includes those with balance problems, with difficulty moving or using their limbs, or with missing limbs. Depending on the needs of the person riding the tricycle, Amtrykes are operated by hand controls or foot controls.
“We give away about 20 to 25 tricycles each year in the community,” Storer said. “Then we recycle that same amount into the community as well.”
“We also partner with Texas Ramps to provide wheelchair ramps, or just really any ramp to a home, in the East Texas community,” Storer added. “We build about one to two ramps per month with them.”
The organization also partners with the City of Tyler on the Southside Park.
“That is the only all-inclusive playground in East Texas,” Storer said. “You may have been to an adaptive playground or something like that but ours in Tyler is the only one that’s all inclusive… everyone can access all pieces of that park.”
Nonprofits like the Tyler Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center (TDHHC) will use their donations to continue to serve the community by offering resources and services for those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Alana Husband, Community Director for TDHHC, spoke on behalf of the organization with Kim Hunt from the TJC Interpreter Training Program interpreting.
“My message today is to let you know that our center provides communication access,” Husband said. “We provide workshops and resources all over East Texas.”
TDHHC was established in 2012 after a two-year collaboration of interested and dedicated people within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in East Texas.
“There was a group of people that wanted to get together and have a place they could call home,” Husband said. “This area did not have that at all.”
Since TDHHC started, they’ve had programs and services catered to those in need of such resources.
Husband said the last race helped the organization develop a community room that allowed them to have workshops and classes.
“We are growing,” she said. “And because of this donation today, it has really helped us achieve our goal for the deaf and hard of hearing community and to give back.”
Justin Hayes, executive director of the Fostering Collective, said it was an honor to be part of the benefits of the FRESH 15 race.
“It’s just a cool time for us to celebrate with 30 different organizations that benefited… and see each organization using their unique passion and giving to help in our community,” Hayes said.
The Fostering Collective helps foster and kinship families of East Texas. With the donations from the race, they will be able to pay for car seats, cribs and other essential items needed to take in a child.
“Every child deserves a family and we want to help those who are willing to take in children,” Hayes said. “So, we’re really excited to see the funds helping families out.”
According to CEO and Chairman of BGC, Brad Brookshire, there were a lot of people involved with putting FRESH 15 together.
“This is a community event, with thanks to our fire department, our police department,” he said. “We also want to thank all the volunteers throughout the course. I am very proud of how FRESH 15 turned out.”
All of the proceeds from the runners’ entry fees are going to the nonprofit organizations.
“Y’all are helping make Tyler the great city that it was,” Brookshire said. “Tyler is the No. 1 place to move into in Texas… and that’s pretty cool. It’s because of the great organizations that y’all represent, the great things that you do for Tyler, Texas and Smith County in East Texas. Thank you for everything that you do.”
The organizations that benefited from the donations include:
Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County
CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Foundation
East Texas Crisis Center, Inc.
East Texas Human Needs Network
Kourage Health (Fit Steps/Cancer Foundation For Life)
Meals on Wheels Ministry, Inc.
Neurodivergent Advocates of East Texas
The Salvation Army Tyler Corps
Tyler Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center
Tyler Type One Diabetes Foundation
Next year’s race will take place on March 1, 2025. According to the organizers, spots are filling up fast as over 1,500 runners have already signed up. Visit www.fresh15k.com to register.
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