Weymouth High School graduate Owen O’Brien led a field of 104 runners through the woodlands of Wompatuck State Park as they helped raise approximately $42,224 during the Weymouth Food Pantry’s annual Freshbite 5K Hunger Run on June 15.
"It was good," said O’Brien, a high school track star, after he crossed the finish line Saturday morning. "It was not too hot, and it was shady. It felt good."
Weymouth Food Pantry Executive Director Pamela Denholm said proceeds raised during the annual 5K Freshbite Hunger Run would help the agency provide fruit and vegetables for people in need.
"Thank you so much for your generosity and your faith in what we do to end hunger in Weymouth," she said to participants after the race. "You guys are incredible."
Denholm said the 5K race is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the pantry, which distributed more than 350,000 meals to Weymouth residents last year.
"We spent 37 percent of our budget on fresh fruit and vegetables, and none of that would have been possible without the support of people like you and the generous sponsors of the race," she said.
Denholm said the pantry’s mission would not be possible without the assistance of 315 volunteers who collectively donated 15,000 hours last year.
The times for the runners were measured by Marathon Sports, which operates 11 sporting goods stores in Massachusetts.
Weymouth resident Scott Lathrop said he decided to take part in the race because his family has done a lot of volunteer work with the pantry over the years.
"My mother has helped out the pop-up pantry at the Old South Union Church," he said. "My late father helped them set up a database."
The race also included a field of approximately 100 walkers taking part in a "Strawberry Stroll."
District 5 Councilor Ed Harrington said he and several family members participated in the stroll to help benefit the pantry.
"It is one of the basic precepts of Christianity and humanity, to take care of people and kids who can’t take care of themselves," he said.
School Committee Chairwoman Lisa Belmarsh said the pantry’s efforts to help people in need is another example of how Weymouth is "doing a lot for its citizens.
"We offer the Weymouth Market at the high school every Wednesday," she said. "That is part of the Massachusetts Food Pantry, and the Weymouth Food Pantry is part of it."
Belmarsh said the pantry's outreach includes a "backpack program," which provides children in need of food assistance with fresh fruit and healthy snacks to take home and eat on weekends.
Denholm said the pantry got an assist from Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle, a Weymouth native who donated an autographed hockey stick, a signed T-shirt and picture of himself with his signature for a raffle.
"We would be remiss not to express our thanks to the Coyle family and Charlie Coyle," she said.
Hingham resident Maureen Moriarty was the recipient of the hockey stick during the raffle drawing. The poster of Coyle and the T-shirt was awarded to Nancy McGinn, a Hingham resident who grew up in Weymouth.
"We are thrilled," McGinn exclaimed as her son Owen held the framed T-shirt.
Denholm said the pantry hopes to expand its services by providing a hot meal for seniors and people who are housebound under $27,000 in state funding to purchase some extra refrigeration space to house prepared food.
The funding is included in an amendment to the state budget offered by State Sen. Patrick O’Connor, which builds on $10,000 secured by O’Connor in the state budget last year for the school backpack program.
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