Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Navy group runs for 4Wishes



Navy group runs for 4Wishes

NORTH CAPE
ERICMCCARTHY
The Journal Pioneer


A light drizzle was falling Tuesday morning as crew members of the HMCS Charlottetown set out from North Cape on their tip-totip Run4Wishes.

That was okay, though, said Leading Seaman Michael Murphy, organizer of the navy ship's sixth annual run for the Children's Wish Foundation. It keeps the team cool, he explained.

Team members will need to stay cool as they take turns running in a relay that takes them from one end of the province to the other.

The team's goal, Murphy said, is to raise enough money to grant four wishes for children with life-threatening illness. The average cost of a wish is between $10,000 and $12,000.

Accompanying the team on the first leg of their run was nine year-old Dylan Allain and his father Randy. Dylan sprinted to the head of the pack as several team members set out together from North Cape just before 8:30 am Tuesday.

It's fun and you get exercise and you help kids who are sick, Dylan said in explaining his participation during a rest stop in Alberton. This is his third year with the team and he is enjoying every minute of the experience.

They are so good to him, said Dylan's mother Marie. He talks of joining the navy when he's of age.

A lead team for the run had visited St. Louis school in May and encouraged students and staff to help Dylan, a Grade 4 student there, raise money for the cause. They responded. Of the $1,122.57 in pledges he had collected by Tuesday, $1,036.27 was raised at the school.

Dylan is planning on rejoining the team for their run into Charlottetown on Saturday. We might be able to pick up a few more dollars this week, said his mother. Murphy said the team had raised or received $20,000 for their cause before even setting out on Tuesday's run. By comparison, they had $12,000 in the boot at the start of last year's event.

They raised $13,000 through activities on the ship. During a reception Monday night in Montague, the Run4Wishes team received $4,395 from a road toll collected there. I guess that's really a challenge to the rest of the Island to see if they can meet or exceed that, Murphy said of Montague's contribution.

He's confident their new target of granting four wishes is achievable, and said any amount over that is gravy.

This is a big week for us, said Murphy. We're showing that the military is here to support the community the best we can. We're showing that we care and we're taking care of business back home.

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