GREATER SPRINGFIELD – The Center for Human Development’s Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Hampshire County will have their 11th annual Daffodil 10k and 5k Run virtually for the second time due to COVID-19.

It is one of their biggest fundraising events each year supporting youth mentoring programs. Participants can complete their run or walk anytime during the week of April 18-25. They can choose their own course via Google Maps or Strava, and post their results on their registration website. From 11 a.m.-12 p.m. on April 25 the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County will connect with a celebratory live stream on Facebook.

“We are so grateful to our community for continuing to support our program by participating in the Daffodil Run,” said Jessie Cooley, director of BBBS of Hampshire County. “While we all eagerly wait for the world to open back up so we can enjoy our favorite activities and see our friends and family, there are more than 150 kids in our community eagerly waiting to meet their mentors. The funds raised through this event will directly help us match more children.”

The Center for Human Development (CHD) sponsor the agency of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. With 80 social service organizations under their umbrella, CHD provides a wide range of community-oriented services to promote and enhance the welfare of people in need.

Katie Lipsmeyer, manager of Development and Marketing at BBBS of Hampshire County told Reminder Publishing, “Big Brothers Big Sisters of America started over 100 years ago directly for mentoring relationships. Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Hampshire County was started 45 years ago with the same mission; creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships to ignite the power and promise of the youth. Essentially we get volunteers from the community or a site-based program like a school or university and we match them with mentees in the community who are in need of a mentor.”

Lipsmeyer said the idea for the Daffodil Run came when they were celebrating the town of Amherst’s 250th year in existence. To celebrate that milestone, the Big Brothers Big Sisters teamed up with the town by planting 50,000 daffodils in Amherst. The course of the run was designed along the path of where those daffodils were planted. For nine years, the event was at Kenrick Park where people would run through downtown Amherst and along the course through residential neighborhoods and back down to Kendrick Park.

“When we announced that we were going virtual, that was on March 16, 2020,” Lipsmeyer explained. “We had 250 registrants who thought they were doing a live event. We added on hundreds more and got 567 registrants last year. Our goal was $60,000 with a live event and we got $52,000 with the virtual event.”

This years goal is $50,000, considering the event is once again virtual. So far this year, BBBS of Hampshire County has raised $30,000 through sponsorship, registrants giving out of their own pocket and having the opportunity to do fundraising. Plus, they will have giveaways for participants that include a set of AirPods, $250 gift cards from Salon Herdis and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and $100 gift cards from local favorites, Bueno Y Sano, and Hillside Pizza.

Currently, BBBS of Hampshire County have 150 children on their wait list. Not only do they want to have volunteers within their community, but they also want to be able to have the resources and funds to make it happen. Right now, Lipsmeyer said their Bigs and Littles are mostly meeting virtually, but with the help of their case managers, Big and Littles are getting creative by having virtual parties, book clubs and games over Zoom and FaceTime.

“Keeping kids connected is really our goal for this year and having that community support no matter if it's a regular year or a year that has been really difficult for our Littles is helpful,” Lipsmeyer expressed. “We hope to return to a live event next year on the Amherst Common. Registration is open and we hope to have 200 more registrants by race day.”

Log on to https://www.runreg.com/daffodilrun to register and for additional questions call Katie Lipsmeyer at 427-2049 or email KLipsmeyer@chd.org.