Hoping to build on the success of last year's inaugural event, the Hershey Rotary Club will host its second annual 5K run/walk on Saturday, Sept. 28, on the grounds of the Milton Hershey School campus. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised will go to support Cocoa Packs, a nonprofit organization that provides supplemental food and other support to local children in need.

Registration and race packet pickup will be held at Henry Hershey Field from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., followed by the run at 9 a.m. The 5K walkers will start after the runners have departed from the start line.

Falcon Race Timing will provide participants with bib timing chips. First- through third-place male and female winners of the 5K run will receive cash prizes.

According to Tracy Creer, who is a member of the Rotary Club as well as a volunteer with Cocoa Packs, 70 runners and walkers took part in the event last year, and she is hoping that the Hershey Rotary Club 5K will attract at least 100 runners and walkers this year.

"It is a really easy course through the Milton Hershey campus. Most of it is paved," she stated. "The race will start at the Henry Hershey Field, and it meanders through the campus and through a neighborhood and there is a grassy area. We had a lot of (Milton Hershey School) house parents and some of the kids from the school walk (the course) last year."

Creer noted that volunteers will be stationed around the course to guide runners and walkers. "It's a nice area," she said. "(School) security knows we are there that day, and we have people at checkpoints. Rotary has chartered a Scout troop, Troop 203, and they will be at various points to help people to cross the road. Everything we do is to make it safe. It is a safe, family event."

Creer, who also organizes the club's annual dinner auction and Christmas wreath sale, came up with the idea to hold the running/walking event. "My son is an avid runner, and I have been to a hundred runs watching him," Creer stated. "People enjoy it, and it's not a big expense depending on the run. It's a win-win. You get a nice day to run and contribute to an organization that is fabulous."

Creer explained that the club has a partnership with Cocoa Packs, which was founded in 2015 by Christine Drexler, a local mother of five. She made sure that children in need in the Derry Township area went home weekly with a bag of food in their backpacks, which would sustain them through the weekend.

The effort has evolved and grown into a nonprofit organization, and Cocoa Packs filled with food are distributed on Wednesdays at Spring Creek Church of the Brethren in Hershey. Food packed in the Cocoa Packs include canned goods, snacks, juice and bottled water. Creer noted that Hershey Rotary Club members regularly volunteer on distribution days.

"Christine's aspirations are to know that each kid will not go hungry," Creer said, adding, "The people she helps end up getting out of need and helping others." More information about the organization is available at http://www.cocoapacks.org.

The Hershey Rotary Club 5K will be held rain or shine. Children in strollers are welcome. There will be an on-course water station, and bottled water and chocolates will be provided after the event. "We live in Hershey, so there has to be chocolate," Greer added.

Henry Hershey Field is located at 635 Brook Drive on the Milton Hershey School campus. On-site restroom facilities and off-road parking will be available. For more information about the event, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Hershey/HersheyRotaryClub5k. Those with questions may email creerm@sbcglobal.net. More information about the club is available at http://www.hersheyrotary.org.