To the Editor:

Thank you to everyone who made GardenShare's third annual Fight Hunger 5K a success! Over 120 people turned out to run or walk the 5K course and, together with the business sponsors, they raised more than $10,000 to support GardenShare's mission of solving the problem of hunger in St. Lawrence County.

The funds raised will help low and moderate-income people access fresh, locally grown food and in the process, support our local farmers. It's a "win-win" kind of thing!

The top fundraising individual for the Fight Hunger 5K was Jess Prody who raised $620 and was recognized with a basket of local produce with the ingredients to make spaghetti sauce which was donated by littleGrasse Foodworks in Canton.

The top fundraising team for the Fight Hunger 5K was the “UU Stomping Out Hunger” team from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton. They raised a total of $1,892 for the Fight Hunger 5K and received a certificate to hold their own celebration event at the Big Spoon Kitchen in Potsdam.

Giant thanks to the Presenting Sponsors for the Fight Hunger 5K: Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Hyde-Stone Mechanical Contractors, St. Lawrence Health System, and Stauffer Farms. All have been ongoing and generous supporters of GardenShare's work to fight hunger in the County. They were joined at the Fight Hunger 5K by the following Partnership Sponsors: North Country Savings Bank, Seacomm, and S&L Electric. In addition, the following companies joined as Friend Sponsors: Conboy Law Firm, Key Bank, and St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union. In addition, there were generous in-kind donations from Kinney’s and Save-a-Lot.

And of course, thank you and congratulations to the hard-working team of volunteers who put this event together and who were there doing whatever needed to be done on September 17! And thank you to everyone who came out and walked or ran the course. Each of you exemplifies what community is all about!

Gloria McAdam

GardenShare, executive director