Help end hunger, homelessness and human trafficking at the Chapel Springs 5K

On May 2 at 8 a.m., Chapel Springs Church will be hosting its first 5K race in Bristow to raise funds for three charity organizations.

The race will take place at the Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park.

According to a release, the church is expecting 1,000 participants, and around 500 runners in the race.

Doug Dreeson, a minister with Chapel Springs Church, said the church felt motivated to go out and help the larger community by hosting the race.

“This year we said ‘Let’s do this’…our first thing was that this was not just going to be to raise money for the church. We really thought, whatever we’re doing, it’s got to be for something outside of [our church],” Dreeson said.

The church will be donating all of the race proceeds, including $17,250 raised by corporate sponsorships to the SERVE Homeless Shelter, Christ in Action Disaster Relief and Ahki’s Place Shelter.

The corporate sponsorships for the event included Freedom Bail Bonds, Wegmans, Bristow Dental Care, The Running Store and Chick-fil-A.

Dreeson commented that the church gave a lot of thought about the charities they wanted to aid, and decided to include a local, national and international charity that reflects the interests of the community.

One of the charities, Ahki’s Place Shelter, is located in Southeast Asia. The charity seeks to get women and children out of the human trafficking trade in the area, into safer situations.

“They’re in a densely populated and extremely poor part of Asia, and they are rescuing kids and women from human trafficking. Where they are – once a woman has been in prostitution, there’s no other option for her,” Dreeson said. 

There is still space for runners that want to register for the race.

The registration fee is $40.00 and includes a t-shirt, according to a release.