Event Info

Kwik Fill’s annual Laurel Run promotion under way

From now until July 20, area residents can show their support for people with disabilities by buying paper sneakers in conjunction with the 13th annual Laurel Run.

For the seventh straight year, area Kwik Fill and Red Apple Food Mart locations will be selling paper sneakers. Customers who purchase a sneaker can write their name on the sneaker and have it displayed in the store. The suggested donation is $1, but donations of any amount are appreciated.

Sneakers will be sold at participating locations in Chautauqua and Erie counties in New York, and in Warren County, PA. The sneakers bear this year’s Laurel Run logo, which was designed by Silver Creek High School student Lauren Johengen.

Last year, the Kwik Fill/Red Apple locations raised $8,231.50 through the Laurel Run sneaker sales. All the money raised at Kwik Fill locations in Chautauqua County goes to TRC Foundation to support The Resource Center. Those funds will be used to support disability awareness and prevention efforts, and to enhance employment and work training opportunities for adults with disabilities at TRC’s Work Centers.

Money raised in Erie and Warren counties will be split 50/50 between TRC Foundation and an organization that supports people with disabilities in each of those communities. Money raised in Erie County will be shared with The Heritage Centers, while funds raised in Warren County will be shared with Bollinger Enterprises.

Laurel Run was created by Wayne and Elaine Hotelling of Silver Creek in honor of their oldest daughter, who has Down syndrome. Laurel Run seeks to raise public awareness about disabilities while providing an opportunity for people with disabling conditions to come together with their non-disabled peers in a fun, community-wide atmosphere.

This year’s Laurel Run takes place July 17 and 18. The first day consists of the traditional Jamestown-to-Dunkirk flag relay, which features students and adults from schools throughout Chautauqua County running legs of the relay. The following day in Silver Creek, featured activities include an 8-kilometer run, a 5k fitness walk, a 1k fun walk, children’s runs, and “Laurel’s Lap,” in which anyone with a disability is invited to take a lap around the track surrounding the village ball field. There also will be a motorcycle dice run.

For more information about Laurel Run, call (716) 483-2344. Details also can be found by visiting www.laurel-run.org.