By Mykah Briscoe | Reporter
Baylor Wells Project and GAIN at Baylor have partnered to host a Rock ‘N Run 5K Thursday on Fountain Mall, raising money for Living Water International and helping bring clean water to Rwanda.
This will be Baylor Wells Project’s second 5K held as a part of Living Water International’s 10 days campaign. San Diego senior and Baylor Wells Project and GAIN at Baylor President Erin Lynes said the 10 days campaign is a challenge to drink only water for those 10 days and to put “yourself in the mindset of what it’s like to not have the luxuries that we have here in America and be able to just partake in the cause.”
Throughout the week student organizations on campus are competing to receive the most points, with the winner receiving $250 to give back to their philanthropy, Lynes said. The 5K is one way teams participating in the 10 days campaign are able to earn points.
The 5K will take the participants around Baylor’s campus and will have things such as yard games, snacks, stickers, a free 10 days T-shirt and the opportunity to talk to members of Baylor Wells Project about education and awareness, Lynes said.
“We’ll have route guides along the way, showing people on and then at the end, the winner will get a $50 gift card, second place $30 and third place will get $20,” Lynes said. “We’ll have a lot of other Wells project merchandise on sale as well for people to help out with the cause.”
With no deadline for the race, people who want to participate in any capacity are able to sign up both online or at the event.
Salyersville, Ky., junior and the 5K coordinator for GAIN at Baylor, Lauren Hardin, said the race is “more for fun than it is to be racing each other” so participants are able to run or walk.
“I feel like even if you’re not a runner you can just kind of go out and walk and it’ll take you like an hour max and that’s your study break for the day and you get a T-shirt,” Hardin said. “So, and know you did something good too instead of just sitting at home.”
Hardin said they were also able to obtain outside sponsors this year, including JJ’s Balloons and The Olive Branch.
“So we’re trying to expand it within the community too,” Hardin said. “That way we can get runners from the studios we partner with and then also businesses and not just Baylor students. That way we can raise even more money too.”
All of the proceeds from the 5K and 10 days campaign go back to Living Water International, a non-profit that “exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water, and to experience ‘living water’ — the gospel of Jesus Christ — which alone satisfies the deepest thirst,” the Living Water International website said.
Lynes said that every $30 raised “goes toward clean water for one family.” In the previous 10 days campaign, Baylor Wells Project raised a little over $7,000, with a little over $2,000 coming from the 5K fundraising, Lynes said.
“This is our world. And so, I think being willing to realize that you can make an impact,” Lynes said. “No, we’re not gonna solve world issues completely, but to be able to make a small impact can still … it can change somebody’s world. And so, I think that that is just a really big perspective change.”
