Miles for Meals on Wheels fun run goes virtual

WASILLA — Wasilla Area Seniors Incorporated board member Brenda Shelden became the first to complete WASI’s Miles for Meals fun run, walk and roll that began on June 1 and will continue until June 20.

The event helps raise money for meals on wheels distributed to seniors from WASI and is taking on a new form in 2020. After 15 years of holding the 5k fun run at WASI, the event is becoming a virtual fun run where participants can sign up and run on their own to help support WASI. Participants are eligible to win prizes and WASI Assistant Executive Director Marlene Munsell is encouraging participants to hashtag their finish line selfies with #milesformeals #mealsonwheels #mealsonwheelsmatsu #virtualfunrun #wasillaseniorcenter. Registration is $25 and can be done at eventbrite.com or by contacting M4M@alaskaseniors.com.

“In the past this has been the biggest fundraiser of the year and it’s a two fold fund raiser. One is financial, but the other one is community engagement because people get to come to our campus and they get to be community with us, right. We get more fans and more people get to know about what we do that’s why it’s so important,” said Munsell.

In a normal year without the COVID-19 global pandemic, seniors would set up shop outside of local grocery stores and ask for donations and sell raffle tickets to help support meals on wheels at WASI. Munsell said that one woman who had raised $10,000 for the Miles for Meals on Wheels fundraiser last year was disappointed to inform Munsell that she would not be able to match her fundraising efforts this year without the ability to go door to door and ask for donations. Munsell said that in explaining how the event transitioned to a virtual fun run, she had to explain to many of the seniors what virtual menat.

“People are disappointed that they’re not going to be able to see that. We are hoping that things get relaxed enough that we can have, we’re calling it a block party, but at the moment we don’t know when that’s going to be,” said Munsell.

Instead of holding the Miles for Meals on Wheels 5k fun run at the WASI campus over one afternoon, the event will take place between June 1 and June 20. Munsell said that as runners finish their 5k and submit their photos, the finish line will become a collage of all of the participants finish line selfies in their own space.

“Everybody will be able to do it at your own pace in your own space,” said Munsell.