By Abigail Loop
Staff Writer
Shepard’s Heart Food Pantry is offering the Waco community a chance to compete in the first Hungry Games Adventure Race to support hunger relief in Waco.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at Indian Lake Park in downtown Waco, registered teams will compete against one another in the race and join the fight against hunger. Each team will consist of two to four people, and at least one team member must be 18 or older.
Denise Gay, race coordinator, said this is the first time the race is being held.
Gay said teams will follow clues to locations across downtown Waco and complete certain tasks or challenges that will give them an allotted number of points.
Whoever has the most points at the end of the race will win a cash prize. Participants are encouraged to show up in fun costumes as well.
Allison Sorley, a committee member of the race, said she believes that Waco needed a new fundraiser and that this race will provide something fun and accessible for the Waco community.
“This involves kids and families and is also great for Baylor students to learn more about the area downtown,” Sorley said.
A volunteer at Shepard’s Heart, Sorley said she hopes that this race will also bring awareness to the pantry and their mission to fight hunger.
“We feed 600 families a week,” Sorley said. “There’s so much hunger in Waco and this is bringing awareness to that cause.”
According to Texas Hunger Initiative, Texas has a household food insecurity rate that is significantly higher than the national average.
In 2011 there were 4,812,760 food insecure people in Texas.
Gay said the organization hopes to continue the race every year to raise awareness.
“We wanted to bring awareness to Shepard’s Heart and also to the downtown area,” Gay said. “We also wanted to promote businesses and have something new and exciting.”
Registration will remain open until the race starts. It costs $40 today, and increases to $45 Saturday.
Teams can register online at thehungrygames.org. Registration fees will support Shepard’s Heart’s efforts to alleviate hunger in the Waco community.
More information can be found at thehungrygames.org and questions can be sent by email to 2014hungrygames@gmail.com.
