Feature photo by Derrick C. Bisco : Bob Williams, Executive Director of Windsor Pride and the Campana Family as they make the proclamation that April 9 from here on out will be “Run for Rocky Day”
2017 Run for Rocky Finale hits over $100k in Funds Raised!
Windsor Pride-Run for Rocky announced over the weekend that the 2017 Run for Rocky Finale Event Revenue has topped the $104,000.00 mark with money still coming in. The total revenue raised through the five events now totals $383,000.00. Windsor Pride received 25% of these funds to help keep their doors open. Since the inception of Run for Rocky the need for their services has grown exponentially.
The Campana Family committed 5 years to hosting the event in Rocky’s memory in order to create change through education about Diversity issues in the Windsor Essex County community. A LEGACY fund will continue to financially support Gay Straight Alliances in high schools in the Windsor Essex County area for many years to come. This funding program is the only funding model for GSA’s in Canada of its kind.
5 Run for Rocky events took place annually beginning in April of 2013 with the FINALE event taking place on April 9th 2017. The fundraising efforts through this event have established a fund that will help support Gay Straight Alliances in local high schools and post-secondary schools in the years to come. This financial support includes GSA grants, GSA scholarships, funding students and educators to go to GSA educational conferences, the purchase of educational resources that help support parents and educators and Diversity Training for educators.
Although the 2017 event marked the FINAL Run for Rocky, the Run for Rocky LEGACY Project will continue to collect donations and sanction approved third party events into the future. The City of Windsor has made a declaration that April 9th will be noted as a Run for Rocky Day in the future and this will give corporations and the community a chance to continue donating as well as the opportunity for GSA’s in high schools to host Run for Rocky events at their schools.This weekend Egale Canada Human Rights Trust will host the 3rd OUTShine conference to take place in Canada, right here in Windsor. This conference is a National Conference for High School Gay Straight Alliance Teacher Leaders and Students. Run for Rocky will help fund 71 local teachers and students to attend with educators funding coming directly from the Caesars Windsor Cares Run for Rocky Diversity Training Fund. This once in a lifetime experience changes lives and the attendance of students to the conference in Winnipeg in 2015 helped to save lives. Windsor Pride-Run for Rocky is ecstatic that successful lobbying of Egale Canada in 2013 to host this conference in Windsor in 2017 was successful as more students in this area will be able to attend.
The support of the Windsor Essex County community for this event showed that there was a great need for a voice for parents, educators and the LGBTQ Community. Education has always been the major mission of Run for Rocky funding and the Campana Family anticipates they will be involved in this work locally and regionally for many years to come.
