No one truly knows the impact one of their family members had on the lives of others until tragedy strikes. For Ana, Jessica and Charlie Lester, of Hamlin, that day came about when their mother, Maria, was killed in a car accident when an unlicensed, uninsured driver ran a stop sign and hit her vehicle. Maria had raised her family in Hamlin, was an active parishioner at St. Elizabeth Church and volunteered at the local Migrant Ministry. With the loss of their mother, and no father in the picture, the three Lester children - all college students - are looking at supporting themselves, pay the mortgage and still remain in college. Jessica attends MCC, Charlie and Ana attend SUNY Brockport. All three work in Brockport. When Tami Mungenast, of Hamlin, heard of the family's situation, she gathered other community members and planned a Community Fitness Walk & 5K. "We planned the walk to raise funds for the benefit of Maria's children. They attend our church and we wanted to help them out," she said. "Another goal of the event is to encourage local residents and their families to become more active." Mungenast rounded up volunteers from the Mom's Club of Hamlin/Clarkson and a local woman's running club called the Couch Potato Fitness Club. "My sister and I had talked about doing a 5K race and when Tami approached us we felt the time was right," Chrisa Yaeger, of the Couch Potato Club said. "We jumped in to help get the ball rolling and do something for the family." Jessica said she and her sister and brother will be participating in the event. "I don't know if we will do the 5K but we will definitely do the fun walk," she said. The June 17 event kicks off at 9 a.m. with the 5K road race; the two-mile fitness walk starts at 9:10 a.m. Registration for these events is $15 per person, prior to June 7, $18 after that date or on race day. A team couch potato race begins at 10 a.m. It consists of a team of five (four runners and one rider) carrying a love-seat sized couch or larger from pre-marked points. Teams will be judged on appearance, style and ingenuity, Yaeger said. The winning team will take home the "coveted" Couch Potato Trophy. Registration fee for the couch race is $60 per team before June 6, $70 after that date or on race day. The entry fee is waived for those participating in the 5K or two-mile events. The day's fitness activities wrap up with a Tater Tot Sack Race for children 12 and under. Every entrant receives a ribbon. Distances will be age-appropriate. There is no fee to enter and no registration required for this part of the event, although donations will be accepted. "Everything is still so raw," Jessica said. "It really is a comfort that the community wants to help us." Charlie said he has been overwhelmed by the giving nature of the community. "This is the type of thing our mom would have enjoyed and participated in," he said. Their mother was born in Guatemala, but had been in the United States since she was 13 years old, and she used her love of the culture and her skills in Spanish to work with migrant children as they worked toward Communion and to learn English as a second language. "She also helped with camps ad gathering clothing donations for the children," Jessica and Charlie said. "She never asked for recognition for anything, it was just who she was, what she did." Mungenast said donations have come from corporate sponsors. "The people who have donated have been amazing, I spoke with Rod and Linda Mank who run a farmer's market in Hamlin, told then what we were doing and they immediately said they would help out." Others have also been eager to help. The running groups have placed fliers throughout the community and registration forms are also available at www.pcrtiming.com. Donations to the education fund for the Lester children can be mailed to Citizens Bank in the Hamlin Tops Plaza and can be made payable to the Couch Potato Lester Benefit. For information on the event or how to donate, contact Mungenast at 964-7616 or by e-mail at ttmungenast@frontier.net; or Yaeger at 964-7845 or cnyaeger@rochester.rr.com. June 4, 2006 |
