Celebrate Life prepares for tenth fun run

SANDPOINT — Celebrate Life has some celebrating of its own to do this year. 

Scheduled this year for Saturday, Aug. 10, the Fun Run is charting its 10th anniversary. Over the past nine years, organizers have generated $140,000 for community members affected by cancer. According to event co-founder Julie Walkington, they hope it only gets better in the next 10 years.

“It’s a very simple event, but that’s how my sister envisioned it,” she said.

Walkington founded Celebrate Life in 2004, a few years after her sister, Jenny Meyer, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Throughout her treatments, Meyer quickly learned the amount of bureaucracy cancer patients face between hospitals and insurance companies. She envisioned an organization that could provide simple forms of assistance with no strings attached. Inspired by that vision, Walkington and co-founder January Tuinstra established Celebrate Life. Meyer passed away in 2008, but her legacy lives on through the assistance program.

“The goal for me is to honor my sister’s memory and provide as much assistance as possible to community members with cancer,” Walkington said.

Not much is changing at this year’s Celebrate Life as compared to last year, Walkington said. The annual walk or run across the Long Bridge, which starts at Dog Beach 8 a.m. with on-site registration beginning 7 a.m., remains untimed to encourage participation from cancer patients or other individuals not interested in a competitive run. The main idea is to keep the event as simple and low-cost as possible, maximizing the proceeds to be spent on local cancer patients, Walkington said.

As with previous years, Walkington expects the tenth Celebrate Life to be just as family friendly and optimistic in tone. She said it’s always amazing to witness the sense of joy and excitement among participants when the event begins. Whether participants are young or old, whether they’re walking or running and whether they have a history of cancer or not, everyone is there to celebrate their own lives and the lives of community members in need.

An entirely volunteer-driven event, all proceeds from Celebrate Life will go toward cancer patients. Typically, the fundraiser splits money between various cancer-related organizations for the purchase of grocery and gas vouchers, massages, firewood, medication and special requests. According to Walkington, they’re the kinds of small gestures that collectively add up to a big help for cancer patients. Vouchers and items are purchased locally whenever possible, and Celebrate Life also uses money to directly support community-organized benefits for individual patients.

“My sister really gave me a lot of insight into what items would be valuable for cancer patients,” Walkington said.

Early registration for Celebrate Life costs $25 for adults and $20 for individuals ages 6-16 until July 31.

After that date, registration fees increase by $5. Participants can register online by visiting www.celebratelifefunrunwalk.org.