The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association will be lacing up their shoes for charity in October and are looking for more runners to join them.
The second annual Run for Barrie event will be held at Centennial Park in Barrie on Oct. 8.
The inaugural event last year boasted around 150 participants.
“Because it was the first year, it was quite successful,” said Zeeshan Iqbal, the regional president of the northern Ontario chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. “We were able to raise a good amount of donations and present a cheque to the Barrie Food Bank. We raised almost $10,000 and this year we are looking to achieve that, if not more.”
This year, the largest Muslim youth group in Canada, which hosts runs across Canada for local charities, will be raising money for the Barrie hospital’s RVH Foundation.
The foundation’s website says that “donor support in Barrie and across the Simcoe-Muskoka region makes world-class care possible, from state-of-the-art equipment, technology and ground-breaking programs to enhanced spaces, research, and innovation.”
A charitable mindset is at the core of what the youth group is all about, says Iqbal.
“This is important to us as it is ingrained in the very personality of a Muslim, where we draw our inspiration from the holy founder of Islam, where he has taught us lessons to serve humanity," he said. "So for us, as Canadian youth, this is one of the ways in which we strive to give back to the community, and it also helps teach and shape our youth and helps them to discipline themselves and understand that this is part of their identity. This is part of what they should be doing on an ongoing basis."
To register for the event or to donate, visit www.RunForBarrie.ca.
Participants are encouraged to begin arriving on site at 9 a.m.
A complimentary light lunch will be supplied.
