Color Fun 5K shares serious awareness message

It’s not like the runners and walkers didn’t know what to expect.

Last week’s annual awareness run was in fact a 5K Color Fun Run. Yes, participants did get doused with powders of various hues along the way. They were advised beforehand to wear a hat or hood if they didn’t want to get color in their hair.

There was plenty of fun for the 210 participants in the early morning run/walk, near the ChildWise building off Vincent Drive. But the event had a serious purpose of sharing important messages. April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Awareness Month, and Drug and Alcohol Awareness Month.

“I want to say thank you to everyone that’s here today to support this run,” Jewell Loving, Redstone Arsenal lead sexual assault response coordinator, told the crowd assembled in the parking lot. “As you can see, this is a collaborative effort.”

The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention or SHARP Office, at Army Materiel Command, collaborated on this event with the Family Advocacy Program, at Army Community Service, and the Army Substance Abuse Program.

“Step forward, prevent, report and advocate,” Maj. Gen. Gavin Lawrence, the Army Materiel Command deputy chief of staff for logistics and operations, told the runners and walkers.

The organizers were pleased with the turnout.

“This was amazing,” Loving said. She noted the community effort between Family Advocacy Program, Army Substance Abuse Program, the SHARP Office and how they brought in the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“It’s the VFW Post 2702, and the reason why we tie the VFW in is because we’re a community of veterans and they do a lot of work with vets that’s geared around supporting victims of sexual assault and veterans dealing with alcohol or substance abuse,” she said. “I just want to say how much I’m appreciative of the turnout of the community coming together to support this event.”

Dave Wilson, suicide prevention coordinator with the Army Substance Abuse Program, said “This was a collective initiative to support community wellness.”

VFW Post 2702, a 497-member organization in Huntsville, set up a tent and supported the runners/walkers.

“It was a great event,” Joe Grau, membership chairperson for VFW Post 2702, said. “And I’m just very impressed with the turnout.”

Other organizations supporting the event included the Alabama Army National Guard Sexual Assault Response Workforce and Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce, from the 142nd Military Police Brigade in Decatur. They provided information, resources and snacks for the participants.

“We had a great time out here today,” Ciera Jefferson, victim advocate at the National Guard’s Sexual Assault Response Workforce, said.

“It was wonderful to see everyone coming together for such a worthy cause,” Shantealle Ray, primary prevention specialist at the National Guard’s Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce, said.