Run For Kelli on Sunday September 20

On Course for Spreading Joy

Annual “Run For Kelli” Benefits Scholarships and Charitable Donations to Youths

The Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Foundation is hosting its annual Run for Kelli at Lyons Township High School South Campus, where Kelli – a member of the cross country team in her junior high years -- attended school as a freshman in 2011. The three-mile race and one-mile walk step off at 9:00 a.m. at the LTHS South Campus, 4900 S. Willow Springs Road in Western Springs, Ill. A DJ will be on hand to provide entertainment, and various raffle prizes will be awarded, including as a pair of premium tickets to a Chicago Blackhawks game.

According to Kelli’s father, John O’Laughlin, the Run for Kelli has been moved back this year from November, when it was held for the past three years. “We wanted to take advantage of the nicer weather earlier in the season,” he explains, adding that the event has drawn members of the community who want to support the Foundation as well as participants from the area’s running community who like running on a course used for official cross country events.

The mission of the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Memorial Foundation is to give young people opportunities to develop their greatest potential of friendship, kindness, leadership skills, confidence as well as their education through college scholarships and other charitable activities. In spring 2015, the Foundation awarded more than $155,550 in scholarships to graduating students in the surrounding communities.

Kelli O’Laughlin was a freshman at Lyons Township when her life was taken by a burglar in her home. Kelli’s family and much of the community come together to remember her, celebrate her life and raise money for her memorial foundation.

To register, visit http://bit.ly/rfk2015. Registration is $30 for the three-mile run and $25 for the one-mile walk.

*Follow @KJOFoundation on Twitter for updates.

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