Runners go Steeple to Steeple to support Methodist Children's Home
Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood and Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook teamed up to present their third annual Steeple to Steeple Run fundraiser on Saturday, April 22.
The event’s usual 5K run began at Trinity UMC on Oxmoor Road a little after 8 a.m., and a first-ever 10K run started at Trinity West Methodist Church. The finish line for both races was at Canterbury UMC.
Steeple to Steeple supports the United Methodist Children’s Home, a nonprofit that provides homes and healing to neglected and abused youth in Alabama.
The weather for the runners was perfect, sunny and cool.
“It’s fun to be out with everybody,” said Ken Damsgard, a member of Trinity UMC. “It like a happening.”
Steeple to Steeple also supported a good cause.
“I have always appreciated the work of the Children's Home,” said Rev. Carolyn Nelson, pastor of Whitfield Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, before running in the 5K. “In the church where I grew up, there were some individuals — a husband and wife — who grew up in there, and I always heard how meaningful it was to them.”
The turn-out by the runners Saturday “was consistent with a 127-year pattern of Methodists stepping up to help orphaned and vulnerable children in Alabama," said Blake Horne, director of the Children’s Home. “Our churches support this tremendously each and every year, and it's great to see so many folks coming out here on a Saturday to raise awareness and raise funds.”
The run was “a tangible way to show our support and care and to share Christ's love with the youth [in the homes]," said Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who offered a prayer to bless the runners before the start of the 5K at Trinity.
Proceeds help more than 1,000 children who don’t live with their biological families and are at-risk.
But informing people about the children in need in their own state is equally important, according to Rebecca Morris, vice president for External Affairs at UMCH.
“The biggest thing for us is to raise awareness,” she told Village Living recently..