Yes Fund supports Southwest Wellness 5k Walk/Run

In the fall of 2019, Bartram’s Garden hosted a 5k walk/run organized by members of our Southwest community to benefit the Donna Comrie Scholarship Fund, established in honor of the late educator and activist Donna Comrie. We are proud that we could use our Yes Fund to support this event. The Neighborhood Yes Fund celebrates the creative talents of our Southwest neighbors and friends and provides mini-grants in support of creative expression, connection to nature, community well-being, and youth engagement.

Read on for a synopsis from organizer Nakia Fields!

Phenomenal, that’s what came to mind as I pondered on what word would best describe our Southwest Wellness 5k Walk/Run.

We held the first annual walk/run on September 15, 2018, and it was a huge success. We would have not been able to pull this off if it hadn’t been for our supporters, and the Yes Fund. We wanted to do something for our community, something that encourages and brings awareness to the importance of health and wellness. So we put together an annual 5k (3.1 mile), fun run/walk.

The 5k took place on Bartram’s Garden’s beautiful tranquil trail. We had more than 50 participants, who came from Southwest Philadelphia and surrounding areas, as well as Delaware, Florida, and even Jamaica. It was an amazing fun filled day with, music, dancing, yoga, prizes, healthy refreshments, and health information from our lovely vendors. The participants ranged from 8 to 69 years old.

The first place winner was a female runner, Sundonia Wonnum, who finished with a time of 23 minutes & 44 seconds. Sundonia was followed by Jabri Bond, coming in at 27 minutes and 41 seconds. Martin Boyd, a community fitness health coach, came in third place at 28 minutes and 50 seconds. As we mentioned earlier, the participants ranged from 8 to 69 years old and to our surprise the oldest runner, Don Crichton (69), placed 7th overall.

 The Southwest Wellness 5k raised $1,600.00. The Yes Fund was able to assure us that all of the proceeds raised went directly to The Donna Comrie Scholarship Fund. The Donna Comrie scholarship provides book scholarships to our minority young women graduates from the  Philadelphia school district that are planning to attend college. Due to the success of this 5k, we are able to provide three $500.00 book scholarships this year. We are looking forward to a bigger and better turnout for our 2nd annual Southwest Wellness 5k! We hope you can join us September 20, 2020, all are welcome!