For over 25 years, the people of the nonprofit Diabetes Foundation Inc. (DFI) have been providing insulin and medical supplies for New Jersey residents who are unable afford their meds — and as Ilene Winters points out, “In all that time, they’ve NEVER turned anyone away!”
The proprietor of Oar Fitness and Endurance in Sea Bright and the Community Relations Director for the Paramus-based DFI, Winters (pictured) recognizes that the rising cost of insulin represents a continuous need for funding — in other words, a campaign that must maintain marathon levels of momentum. To that end, the Wall Street veteran and avid triathlete has organized a Half Marathon Row fundraising event for the morning of Saturday, May 13.
Scheduled to get “oars-in” beginning at 9 a.m., the event is hosted at the Shrewsbury Plaza location of Monmouth Crossfit, home to the Navesink Indoor Rowing club, and next to the year-round headquarters of Holiday Express in the building at 968 Shrewsbury Avenue.
Participants are invited to row solo, or in teams of 2 to 4 “crew” members, during what’s being promised as “a fun day of food, drinks, music – oh, and rowing!!”
“If you have no team, no worries,” says Winters. “It’s just a ‘for fun’ event and we have plenty of people looking for teammates.”
Everyone who takes part in the Half Marathon event is entered into a raffle for a Grand Prize of “Dinner for two in 15 of the best local restaurants.” There are other prizes to be raffled off as well, and as Winters explains, “you can buy more raffle tickets ($25 per ticket or 5 for $100), OR fund raise where every $100 you raise gets you 2 additional raffle tickets.”
Go here to register for the May 13 event, for which the first 75 entrants receive an official event shirt.