Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North to host ceremony for Galloping Gertie fundraiser awards

The Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North will host a special awards ceremony to recognize the sponsors and award recipients from last summer’s Galloping Gertie Half Marathon.

The ceremony is set for 5 to 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at 7 Seas Brewery in Gig Harbor.

Proceeds from the 2016 fundraiser will be presented in awards to the Children’s Home Society of Washington, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, Food Backpacks 4 Kids and Communities in Schools of Peninsula.

Also included at the event are the fund awards to Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools, whose students participated in a competition last year to see which school would have the highest number of runners and volunteers participating, said Kathi Melendez, the club’s secretary.

“There was this little friendly competition between Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools to see who could get more people to sign up for the run,” she said. “We’re really proud to be able to do this.”

The club is awarding cash prizes to each high school, along with the Lenny Trophy for the school with the most runners to have finished the race by crossing the finish line.

A cash donation will be given to the Children’s Home Society, along with grants to Communities in Schools and Food Backpacks 4 Kids to fund their summer lunch programs.

The donation to Mary Bridge is a mobile educational game kiosk by Gamers Outreach, a nonprofit organization. The kiosk will be used for long-term patients at Mary Bridge.

“It’s very cool,” Melendez said.

Planning for the 2017 Galloping Gertie Half Marathon is already underway, with the competition between Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools planned again for this year. The 8th annual Galloping Gertie Half Marathon will be held Aug. 12. More information is available at galloping-gertie.com.

Anyone interested in attending is asked to RSVP to Melendez at gigharborkathi@gmail.com.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 10:15 AM with the headline "Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North to host ceremony for Galloping Gertie fundraiser awards."