Nonprofit Hosts Largest Charity 5K Run to Raise Awareness of People with Disabilities
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A person with a disability that has a desire to live and work within the community should live and work in the community. Institutionalizing people with disabilities and segregating them from society denies basic human rights. Consolidation and closure of institutions is the solution.
Did you ever think you could find your soul mate at a charity event? Well, you can! The National Cupid’s Chase 5K Run, the largest, simultaneous 5K Run in the United States offers participants the option to choose from an “Available” or “Unavailable” t-shirt to display their relationship status. As a result, over 20,000 people have connected at the event and some have even fallen in love. What a great way to meet someone new while supporting a great charity at the same time!
The national Cupid’s Chase 5K Run benefits Community Options. Community Options is a national nonprofit organization with the mission to develop homes and employment for people with disabilities. The organization operates in 37 cities across 10 states and supports thousands of people with disabilities and their families with the help of over 2,500 employees.
The purpose of the Cupid’s Chase 5K Run is to raise awareness about the vast potential of people with significant disabilities such as autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and other developmental disabilities. Community Options strives to raise awareness of the potential of these people that are consistently overlooked and marginalized by the general public.
The 2012 Cupid’s Chase 5K Run National Chair, Geraldo Rivera, was nationally recognized for his heroic expose of the horrific neglect that occurred at the now-closed Willowbrook State School for the Retarded. The expose included historic black and white footage of naked men and women lying in their own feces unattended; the images are ones we will never forget.
That film was one of the principle reasons the founder of Community Options, Robert Stack, decided to devote his life to moving people with disabilities into more humane settings in which they could receive care and be taught, like any other American, how to find and keep a job, live in a community and thrive as a human being full of unexplored potentials.
Mr. Rivera exposed this problem to Americans more than 30 years ago. It was around that same time that Bobby Kennedy came out of an institution and dubbed it a “snake pit.” It is clear to see that even Government officials were embarrassed and ashamed at the way people with disabilities were being treated.
Since that time in American history, the government has put trillions of dollars into these large institutions. However, Community Options does not believe this was the right approach. The solution to solving the problems of the abuse and neglect at the large institutions is to close them. The answer is to place the people with disabilities and those who care for them in small homes throughout the country.
There are 30 Cupid’s Chase 5K Runs that take place across the United States every February on Valentine’s Day weekend. You can make a difference. You don’t have to run. You can cheer. You can be part of a race to support people with disabilities to live like every other American.
More About This Charity
Region
Northeast
Category
Most Creative Fundraiser by a Charity
Name
Community Options, Inc.
Mission
Community Options was founded in 1989 and develops housing and employment for people with disabilities.
Impact
- This Achievement raised $200,000
- This Achievement helped 10,000 people
- This charity helped 20,000 in the past year
Works In
United States
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