Dream big, run fast in memory of Joe

Emilie Windelin, Staff Reporter

On Saturday, May 9, the Roseville Community Schools Scholarship Foundation (RCSSF) will have their second annual Dream Dash fundraiser. A few changes have been made to the event this year, with the most notable one being change of the name. In honor of Joseph Manfreda, who ran 1st in last year’s Dream Dash, the event will from this year forward be known as the Joe Manfreda Dream Dash.

“I feel very proud and very honored,” Shannon Hoffman said about the fact that the fundraiser will be named after her son. “I have been practicing a lot for the run, and I actually have pretty much my entire family coming in from out of state and they will all either be walking or running.”

Another change is that this year’s race will be timed, by Hanson’s Running Shop. The main goal of the fundraiser is to raise money for students pursuing higher education, and that is reached by accepting donations and a small registration fee from runners. Therefore, the price to participate is $25 including a t-shirt if you sign up in advance, and $30 the day of the race. Registrations start at 9am, and continue until the gun goes off at 10am. The run is a 5k course (3.1 miles), which you can either choose to walk or run. However, if you are not interested in participating in the run itself, RCSSF is still looking for volunteers to help hand out t-shirts, show the runners the way along the route and much more.

“I think Joey would be so proud to see the way everyone is still supporting him. When he started running, he really came out of his shell and that is when he started getting a passion for everything he did in life,” Hoffman said.

For more information and signup sheets, visit http://www.rcs.misd.net or pick up a sheet in the Main Office. Go help out a great cause, Roseville, in memory of a remarkable student and friend.