Volunteers with the annual Terry Fox Run in Huntsville are uncertain of its future if new volunteers don’t come forward.
“For a couple of weeks the Terry Fox Run was in jeopardy in Huntsville,” said Bill Coon who has been on the committee for 15 years and the organizer for 10 years. “I was prepared to say our committee has done enough and then my conscience got the better of me and a number of people on the committee said we have to make it happen again so we’re going to make it happen again.
The committee has been great. We all said last year that 2016 was going to be the last Terry Fox Run we took care of but we’ve been unable to entice new people to take over. These people have said they’re not going anywhere. But it’s time to bring some new people and new thinking on board.
Bill Coon
To run the race Coon said they need an organizing committee of six people.
“We need someone who is very social media savvy. That’s one thing we’ve identified. We don’t do well in connecting with the next level of Terry Fox-ers. We’re all strapped for time and you fit in what you can. Ideally the run organizer would be a retired person and then have committee members that are a nice mix of people. The commitment isn’t onerous, there are just certain things that need to get done.”
Coon said the current committee is willing to co-organize or step aside. “People of my generation have this memory of Terry Fox, we were alive and have this memory. The next generation have to learn about him. We need somebody in that age range who can help us connect with that next age group of Terry Fox supporters.”
Anyone who is interested in joining the committee can contact Bill Coon anytime by email at [email protected].
This year’s Huntsville Terry Fox run takes place on Sunday September 17 at Huntsville High School. Registration is at 8 a.m., with the run starting at 9 a.m. T-Shirts are on sale at Scotia Bank to help raise funds for the run.
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