Dec. 25, 2018 – Washington Co., WI – Today I completed 24 years, 359 days of not missing a day of running. That’s 9,124 days in a row and run No. 20 of the 25 Runs of Gratitude for United Way of Washington County.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. I will keep this short and sweet today as everyone should be spending time with family and not reading this blog.
The thing I remember most about Christmas Day is the kids would have to wait to open their gifts until after I came home from my run. When they were little we couldn’t even let them come downstairs until I got home from my run. It has gotten easier over the years and was not a problem this year because we ran at 10 a.m. for Family Promise and allowed them to open their gifts before the run.
Today we ran from the doorsteps of Family Promise and Karl’s Place. Erin greeted us and talked about all of the wonderful services that Family Promise provides for homelessness. Family Promise provides a full continuum of care for individuals and families at risk of homelessness as well as homeless people in Washington County.
We had two sponsors for today’s run, Moraine Park Technical College and Hewlett Packard Enterprises. Moraine Park Technical College faculty, staff and students raised nearly $1,200 for United Way of Washington County/Family Promise.
$120 was used to purchase a list of much needed supplies/gifts for homeless children. Moraine Park employees raised this money in addition to surpassing their pace setter United Way campaign this year. The Hewlett Packard Enterprises money came to us from the efforts of Chip and Rhonda Faehling. The Faehling family have been incredible volunteers for Family Promise since nearly its inception.
Wednesday, Dec. 26 we run for the Youth and Family Project, 630 Elm St., West Bend, at 9 a.m. See you then!
To date Pete Rettler’s 25 Runs of Gratitude have benefited the Boys & Girls Club, Interfaith Caregivers of Washington County, Easterseals SE WI, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County, Kettle Moraine YMCA, Elevate, Friends, Inc., Family Center of Washington County ,Consumer Credit Counseling Service and the American Red Cross SE WI.