St. Joseph's Memorial Foundation donates race sponsorships to local fire departments

Due to historic flooding in the area just three days before the event, the 2018 St. Joseph's Labor Day Weekend half Marathon, 10K and 5K Run/Walk were sadly cancelled. The event had been planned for many months and had around 120 participants registered and several sponsors.

"This was the first time ever that the race had to be cancelled," says Dan Howard, director of St. Joseph's Memorial Foundation. "It was a hard decision to make after all the work that had gone into the event, but it was the right thing to do given the concerns we had at the time over the safety of the course."

Race participants were given the option of transferring their registration to the 2019 event or getting a refund. Race sponsors were also asked what they would like to seen done with their investment and the overwhelming response was to donate to projects related to flood relief.

"We brought that request to our foundation board, and they voted unanimously to execute the wishes of our donors and opted to split the funds between the fire departments of Hillsboro, Wonewoc and Elroy with the request that the funds be used to repair or replace equipment used in the flooding, or to buy new equipment that would have been useful during the recent disaster."

Each fire department was presented with a check for $1,000 by Dan Howard, director of St. Joseph's Memorial Foundation.

St. Joseph's Memorial Foundation wishes to thank the following sponsors for their support Brunner Wire Products, Hillsboro County Market, Farmers State Bank, Hawk High Dairy, LLC., Hillsboro Brewing Co., Hofmeister Insurance Agency, Inc., Hotel Hillsboro, Kwik Trip - Hillsboro, OSD Transport, Inc., Peterson Pharmacy, Pro Blend Nutrition, LLC., Royal Bank, Schumacher Philanthropic Consulting, LLC., Seats, Inc., Wipfs Flooring, Holvy's Café and Catering, Danni Gearhart, Margaret Ann and Ralph Roberts, and Joe Amberg.

St. Joseph's Memorial Foundation would also like to thank the Hillsboro Fire Department for their continued support of the St. Joseph's Labor Day weekend fun run and all of our area fire departments for their dedication to the safety of our communities.