The second annual Vaughn's Memorial Color Run will return Labour Day weekend in full, vibrant colour and organizers are hoping to see the same numbers as last year by the morning on Sept. 2. To date, the walk/run has roughly 40 runners signed up and is also short on volunteers to splash colour at stations along the way to encourage participants in the one-km kiddie run/walk, the five-km and 10-km run/walks at Mitford Park. "We're looking for volunteers to help run the colour stations," said Jamie Sawchuk of the founding family of the Vaughn Sawchuck Foundation, which raises money for pediatric cardiac care. The Sawchuk family has received an outpouring of support from the Cochrane community, following their decision to start a foundation in honour of the loss of their infant son, Vaughn, in 2014 to a rare heart condition called Ebstein's Anomaly. Jamie and Greg Sawchuck, accompanied by their two other children, have since worked toward overcoming their grief through the formation of their foundation, fundraising for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton. "It's been an outlet for us to heal as a whole family," explained Jamie. "It's been the darkest time in my whole life and this has shed a bit of light on that." Currently, the family is focusing their fundraising efforts to go toward a new unit at the Stollery - a 25-bed unit for families awaiting surgery and organ donation. Some of the funds will also go toward the Little Heroes Heart Camp - a medically-supervised camp for children with heart disease. They also continue to raise funds for child heart disease research and to promote organ and blood donor registration. Jamie added that the family-fun event will have prizes for the fastest and funkiest dressed. Family and friend team sign-ups are encouraged. This year's fundraising goal from the race is $5,000. The foundation also recently received more than $4,000 through the premiere Bow Valley Goju Karate Break-A-Thon, which took place in June. Tickets for two to fly anywhere through WestJet will also be available up until and on race day. Participants are encouraged to take advantage of early bird pricing – for a $10 savings for those who register before Aug. 31. Sign up is available at events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=15573. Learn more about Vaughn's story at vaughnsawchukfoundation.com.
