Local children to benefit from fun run

Northern Rivers’ children needing orthotic foot supports to help them walk better will benefit from the fund-raising efforts of everyone who participated in the recent Southern Cross University Darrel Chapman Fun Run.

The $6,500 raised will go to support the Our Kids charity and be directed to help families using the orthotic clinic at the Lismore Base Hospital children’s ward.

Our Kids fundraising coordinator Rebekka Battista received the cheque today from Deputy Vice-Chancellor Bill MacGillivray and event co-organiser Peter Mooney, a human movement science and law student.

Peter was one of 16 students who took on organising the event as a unit in their degree. The students had to plan and stage the entire event with the supervision of Greg Downes, their lecturer in facility programming and management.

“The hand-on experience we gained in doing this exercise was incredible,” Peter said.

“We learned about media, marketing, sponsorship, logistics, planning, occupational health and safety, team work, leadership, delegation … the list goes on and on.

“It was a real life event and we had to develop real, practical skills to pull it off. It has been a great hands-on learning experience.”

About 370 people participated in the fun run and about 50 students and staff donated their time and energy to help on the day.

Photo: Ready to run with a $6,500 cheque for the Our Kids charity, raised through the Darrel Chapman Fun Run, are Bill MacGillivray (left), Rebekka Battista and Peter Mooney.