Milwaukee-based nonprofit Growing Power is rallying the community to embrace fitness and healthy food at once with its second annual Good Food Revolution 5K Walk/Run.
The event, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, will guide participants through a course between Growing Power’s headquarters, 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive, and Westlawn Gardens on West Silver Spring Drive. The area is considered a severe food desert, and the Run/Walk will work to draw wider support for a community food system that Growing Power has been spearheading for the last two decades.
The event will also raise funds for Growing Power’s food system, which is comprised of urban agriculture developments and small farms throughout Milwaukee.
“The mission and vision of the Growing Power 5K Walk/Run is to show, in a concrete way, what we need to do as an organization, community and city, in order to end poverty and provide opportunities for all individuals to live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle,” Will Allen, chief executive officer and founder of the organization, said in a press release. “This can and will be done by developing a new food system, one that produces good local food that helps to develop the healthy people and communities that we all want.”
The idea for the 5K Run/Walk stemmed from work Allen has been involved with for First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move campaign,” which aims to curb childhood obesity and tout healthy lifestyle choices.
Growing Power is partnering with Westlawn Gardens and the Housing Authority on organizing the event, which will run from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Runners will take off at 8:40 a.m., and awards will be distributed to top competitors. Cost is $30 through Saturday, May 2, and $40 from Sunday, May 3, through Saturday, May 9.
For more information on the race and Growing Power’s mission to open up access to healthy food options, click here.
