Angels Take Flight teams with Fleet Feet Sports for 5K

April 21, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Fleet Feet Sports has partnered with Angels Take Flight – a nonprofit that provides foster children with luggage while in transition to foster homes  – for a 5K run or walk on May 7 that would benefit the organization.

Timothy Murphy, co-owner of Fleet Feet Sports at 680 Bliss Road in the Longmeadow Shops, told Reminder Publications he and his wife Jill reached out to Angels Take Flight and described the partnership as a “perfect fit.”

He added, “For the campaign that we started last fall, we were looking for a local charity that did something good related to kids … And so the fact that they help out kids in transition was a perfect fit.”

Timothy said he doesn’t have a fundraising goal for the 5K, but believes the Longmeadow and local area community is great in supporting charitable causes.

Jill, who previously taught in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District, said Angels Take Flight resonated with her due to her teaching background.

Tamara Blake, president and founder of Angels Take Flight, said the organization was founded in Massachusetts in 2010 and became an official nonprofit in 2012.

“We aim to help the children of the community by collecting luggage and other transitional items such as backpacks … whatever it is that the children need so they don’t have to use trash bags when they go from home to home such as in foster care, if they lose their house in a fire, if they have to enter a safe house, domestic violence shelter, or homeless shelter,” she added.

She continued, “We believe that it helps to restore the dignity and pride of children in our community.”

Blake said her nonprofit primarily serves people in Western Massachusetts, but the organization has helped families and children in the eastern half of the state.

“We just opened our official chapter in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” she noted.

She said the organization is excited for the 5K and is still looking for additional sponsors. The annual 5K would be hosted for fourth year in a row in Longmeadow.

Blake said last year the 5K raised approximately $1,000. She’s hoping the race and walk event could raise double that amount this year.

Timothy Murphy said the 5K would begin at 9 a.m. at the Longmeadow Shops. Registration for the event is encouraged.  

For more information about Angels Take Flight visit www.angelstakeflight.org. To register for the 5K visit www.active.com/longmeadow-ma/running/distance-running-races/angels-take-flight-5k-2016.

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