by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
They all took months of planning and that preparation paid off to the total of about $1 million Saturday.
The City of Jacksonville hosted four different charity events Saturday: American Heart Association “Heart Walk,” Ronald McDonald House “Children’s Way 5K and Family Day,” the inaugural Northeast Florida Human Trafficking Task Force “Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk” and Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition “Cycle for Life and 5K Walk” to raise awareness of infant mortality rates. Both the Heart Walk and Cycle for Life and 5K Walk took place near Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The Heart Walk included a 3K from Metropolitan Park to The Landing and a 1-mile Heart Disease and Stroke Survivors Walk. The Cycle for Life and 5K Walk utilized First Street and A. Philip Randolph Boulevard.
Both the Ronald McDonald House and antihuman trafficking events started in and around San Marco Square.
Why so many events during one weekend? Organizations were just taking advantage of their window of opportunity.
“It’s tough to schedule an event like this,” said Mike Eason, cofounder of the NE Fla. Human Trafficking Task Force. “November and December are the holidays. January and February it’s too cold. June, July and August it’s too hot. So you are left with windows in the spring and fall to plan an event.”
Weather and calendar aren’t the only factors in deciding on a date. Other events occurring in Jacksonville on the same weekend are also taken into consideration.
“You don’t want to overlap with other events,” said Ryan Donelson, an organizer with the American Heart Association Heart Walk. “But once you pick a date, you have to stick with it.”
Not only did these events receive good weather, but both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida Gators football teams were on the road, so that meant more people staying in Jacksonville for the weekend.
“We had about 700 people pre-register for the Children’s Way 5K,” said Mary Breedlove, Ronald McDonald House, Jacksonville, Special Events Manager. “But we usually have a lot of walk ups register the day of the event.”
Having a sizable amount of the community home for the weekend helped the success of the events. The Heart walk welcomed about 9,000 walkers and is on its way to reaching its goal of $895,000 in donations, with just over $700,000 on Tuesday. The ninth annual Children’s Way 5K and Family Day raised over $80,000 for Ronald McDonald House. The NE Fla. Human Trafficking Task Force was able to raise about $15,000 toward its effort of raising awareness and stopping human trafficking and it hosted about 400 people for its walk.
“We have gone to the campuses, UNF and Florida Coastal, to speak on the issue and raise awareness,” said Crystal Freed, cofounder of the task force
and attorney who founded The Freed Firm. “We expected a good showing from UNF. They are really motivated and have rallied around the issue. The entire UNF basketball team attended.”
All the organizers felt their events, both annual and inaugural, ran smoothly, but that might not have been the case without the support of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO).
Traffic must be controlled when events are taking place and event organizers must hire off-duty deputies to support the event. With decades of experience with special events, the JSO Special Events Division has developed cost effective plans for the charities to hold their fundraisers.
“We try to make it as cost-effective for the organizations as we can,” said Sgt. Leonard Propper, of the JSO Special Events Division. “The Ronald McDonald House Children’s Way 5K and the Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk used the same route. We utilized different starting times and different start and finish points so they didn’t need as many deputies for support. It saves cost and helps them accomplish their goal.”
With so many events happening on the same day, and at nearly the same time, the goal for JSO is safety. Their ability to achieve that goal is regularly tested as both the Hart and Main Street Bridges were closed during the events. The Hart Bridge is receiving schedule maintenance, but the Main Street Bridge experienced some technical difficulties on Saturday, said Propper.
“No matter how many events we oversee or the amount of experience we have, it’s never easy,” said Propper.
And it won’t get any easier this weekend. The JSO will be involved in coordinating the “Light the City” Police Motorcycle Charity Ride on Friday, the U.S. Marine Corps half marathon starting at the Veterans Memorial Wall, running down to Florida State College of Jacksonville’s Kent Campus and back, on Saturday. The Tennessee Titans will arrive in town for a game with the Jaguars Sunday.
But these weekends should keep the JSO in good condition to handle the Florida-Georgia weekend looming on the calendar.
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