UNITE TO FIGHT - 5K to benefit Filling in the Blanks

On Sunday, August 21st 2022, Filling in the Blanks will host the fourth annual Unite to Fight 5K. The race will once again take place at New Canaan High School and will be run through the idyllic Waveny Park in New Canaan. This race seeks to build community through raising funds to provide weekend meals for children facing food insecurity in local neighborhoods. 

Raising $35,338 with 249 participants, the race exceeded all expectations in 2021 and helped expand our program to assist 116 more children with a year’s worth of weekend meals! This year you have the unique opportunity to get in early as a staple sponsor of this event, which will benefit your brand, and help us continue to grow that success to do even more! 

In Fairfield County, more than 33,000 children are not sure where their next meal will come from. Most will get breakfast and lunch from school every weekday, but many will go from Friday lunch until Monday at breakfast without a decent meal. Filling in the Blanks is an organization that fills in those weekend gaps by providing each child in its program with a backpack filled with healthy food for the weekend.  When the obstacle of food insecurity is removed, children experience increased academic achievement in school and greater opportunities for success in their lives. 

Founded in 2013 by two Fairfield County residents, Tina Kramer and Shawnee Knight, Filling in the Blanks is a 501c3 non-profit organization that has grown from serving 50 kids to serving more than 4,000 kids in Fairfield and Westchester counties. 

The Unite to Fight 5K event was inspired through the memory of Kristen Reynolds Ruth, a local kindergarten teacher, mother and friend, who passed in 2011 after a 7-year battle with cancer and was deeply passionate about working with and helping children. The event was created and is directed by her daughter, an NCHS alumni, Britt Gardella. 

With your race registration, you will receive the following:

• Unite to Fight 5K T-shirt, available for local pick up the week of the race.*
• Gift certificates for top three men and women race finishers
• Unite to Fight 5K medals for age group winners

*Participants registering after August 10th 2022 may not receive a shirt.