Press release from Salt Creek Grille
Since his days at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Brendan Kirchner has nurtured an ongoing passion for running. From cross-country, to local 5k races to marathons, the 26 year old has steadily improved his times, focused his training regimen, and even managed to place first in a few races.
During the Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon on April 26, the 10-year employee of Rumson’s Salt Creek Grille will be racing for something other than his best time — he will be running to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research.
Inspired by the charitable work done by his boss, Steve Bidgood, Kirchner ran a marathon last year to raise funds for the popular restaurant’s 2014 charity Hope For Children — and this year he’ll be running on behalf of Salt Creek’s designated charity for 2015, the Kortney Rose Foundation. The locally based nonprofit is the beneficiary of the restaurant’s annual Wine and Martini Tasting fundraiser, scheduled for April 16.
The always sold-out event has raised more than $730,000 for local charities that serve children’s needs, with100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the charities. Last year’s event raised an all-time high in a single night ,with a total of $112,000, including pledges for Brendan’s race for Hope For Children. Brendan personally raised $2,000 last year, and his 2015 goal is $5,000 for Kortney Rose Foundation.
That’s good news for Kristen Gillette, the Oceanport resident who founded the foundation in memory of her daughter Kortney, who died of a rare brain tumor at age 9 in 2006. Gillette and her board members hope to make their $1 million milestone at the Salt Creek Grille event (to date KRF has raised $910,000). This year also holds a special significance to Gillette and her family, since it would have been the year that Kortney graduated from Shore Regional High School.
“Raising funds through my running has added another dimension, a sense of purpose other than beating a time,” said Kirchner, a Red Bank resident who is currently enrolled in a Masters Program in Social Sciences at Monmouth University. “It’s rewarding to know that I can help.”
