Run For Hope: A critical part of funding

By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
October 27, 2004
Nearly three years after it began taking in abused and neglected children, Hope Village for Children still finds itself with its hands tied by inadequate funding.
With a major fund-raiser set for Saturday the Run for Hope race at Bonita Lakes officials already have earmarked the incoming money for day-to-day needs rather than long-term projects.
Hope Village is a home that cares for children. Officials say a patchwork of private donations, fund-raisers and government grants have kept the nonprofit home afloat.
And while grants provide Hope Village with its largest sums of money, programs director Tina Dyess said events like Run for Hope fund roughly 30 percent of the organization's annual budget.
Fund-raisers also help raise public awareness of Hope Village's goals. But, Dyess said, the money raised also serves another important purpose.
Hope Village must compete for its grants. Cuts in Mississippi's state budget have increased the competition, making fund-raisers like the Run for Hope all the more important.
This year will be the Run for Hope's fourth, and a 5K road race has been added to a list of activities that also includes a 10K trail run, a two-mile walk and a one-mile fun run for children.
Royal said he hopes for close to 300 entrants, who will each pay anywhere from $12 to $16 to compete.
Money raised will go toward funding day-to-day necessities rather than other major projects, such as staffing two renovated cottages that are otherwise ready to be occupied.
Those two cottages have 20 beds that would nearly double Hope Village's current capacity of 32, but Dyess said it may take as long as two years to raise enough money to staff them.
Here is a look at the 4th Annual Run For Hope, a major fund-raiser for Hope Village for Children.