In just over a month, it will be On your marks, get set, go for the KidStart Run, a 600 km effort to raise funds for the KidStart Volunteer Mentoring Program.
Campbell River’s Terry Kratzmann has set a goal to run from Cape Scott to Victoria during the month of April. He will be joined by Shane Douglas from the Comox Valley for the first 375 km of the run (Cape Scott to Courtenay), as well as Jim Finlayson from Victoria and other runners for sections of the route. Both Kratzmann and Douglase know the value of mentoring first hand. Terry volunteered as a KidStart mentor for more than three years. Over that time, the teenage boy he mentored made huge positive changes that his mother described as “beyond my dreams.”
Shane has been a mentor with KidStart for close to two years. “As an adult I still have several important role models in my life that I look up to and learn from, and I use those lessons as best I can to help my mentee.”
Shane was inspired to join Terry because the run provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the positive benefits of KidStart. “I believe this run will help many of the kids who are struggling in our communities realize how great they can be,” he said.
KidStart is offered by The John Howard Society of North Island in Campbell River and the Comox Valley. The volunteer-based program focuses on the positive development of vulnerable children and youth ages 6-18 who could benefit from having stable, committed, and caring adults in their lives.
You can help Kratzmann and the other runners in their monumental effort for KidStart. Make a donation or register for the 5 km run into Campbell River on April 14, Courtenay on April 15, or Victoria on April 28. Visit www.jhsni.bc.ca and click on the KidStart Run link.