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Club News
Vinings Down Hill 5K Run for the Kids Sets Records During Pandemic

On January 27, 2021, the Vinings Cumberland Rotary Club gathered virtually to celebration its donation of over $100,000 to 17 charities specifically targeting children's projects. All this raised by a 66-member Rotary Club with money during the pandemic in the August 2020 Vinings Down Hill 5K run for the Kids. 

Grant recipients included the Good Samaritan Health Center, Calvary Children's Home, American Red Cross, Arts Bridge Foundation, Atlanta Union Mission, Bankhead Boys Association, Breakthrough Atlanta, Canine Companions, Girls on the Run, Hero for Children, Kate's Club, Kenrod, Inc, Kyle Peasee Foundation, LaAmistad, Lekotek of Georgia, MUST Ministries and Youth Villages. 

The money was raised by individual and corporate sponsors  and featured the 2020 Charles Heinz Memorial Sponsorship, honoring the late founder and director of the race with over $58,000 of the total grant funds.

Over 350 runners from all over the Atlanta area, across the USA and around the world (including former GRSP and Rotary Youth Exchange students) ran on their own, logged their time and sent their information into Race Chair Jolene Northrop. For 24 years, the race has always been an hands-on 5K race run by hundreds of Rotarians and volunteers in Vinings, a village across the Chattahoochee River northwest of Atlanta. This year, the race was almost complete cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. Instead, it was a record breaking success because of the persistent hard work of Jolene and her committee - Co-Chair Ann Hudgins, Sponsor Chair Betty Smith, Race Administrator Terri Hilderhoff, Grant Chair Steve Hughes, Paul Harris,, Kathy Gacutan and others.

The club's next race will be in August 2021- hopefully welcoming the typical 1500 runners live as in person in Vinings as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. The legacy of the Charles Heinz Memorial Sponsorship of 2020 will continue to contribute to its success.

Posted by Ross Henderson
February 2, 2021

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