The Julie Valentine Center provides invaluable resources for people in our community who need it the most, and with their upcoming event, “Run2Overcome,” you can help too.
Recently I sat down with Robin Longino from the Julie Valentine Center. Every year, the Julie Valentine Center has a fundraising 5k called “Run2Overcome,” which is coming up this year on Saturday, August 5th.
Last year’s Run2Overcome raised a record-setting $50,000. As a sponsor, we wanted to bring Robin on to explain a little bit of what the Julie Valentine Center does.
The Julie Valentine Center is Greenville’s rape crisis and child abuse center, which has helped children and adults in the area for more than 40 years.
For children who have been physically or sexually abused, the center provides forensic interviews and forensic medical exams by partnering with the Greenville health system, as well as both individual and group therapy.
Adult services include a 24-hour rape crisis hotline and ER accompaniment—which means that anytime someone shows up for a sexual assault examination at one of the area emergency rooms, the Julie Valentine Center sends a trained victim advocate to be with them. Therapy is also available.
Additionally, the center offers prevention programs in the form of education services in the school system throughout Greenville County as well as adult classes. The center serves about 2,600 people a year, 800 of which are children.
Furthermore, all of the services provided are absolutely free of charge. Because of this, community support, including the support received from sponsors like ourselves at the Haro Group, makes the work the Julie Valentine Center does possible.
It’s so easy to get caught up in our own lives. We see stories on the news that sometimes remind us of what is truly going on beneath the surface. Knowing how common this issue really is, we are thankful for people like Robin who work to make a difference.
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With just a small time commitment, you can make a huge impact.
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Now, we’re asking for your help. A bunch of people from the Haro Group will be running in this year’s Run2Overcome, so one thing we want to invite you to do is to run with us. You can sign up via this website.
If running isn’t an option for you, we’d still love your help by donating here. Our company goal is to raise $5,000. So by going online and donating to our group, or to an individual if you know one of our team members, you’re helping to make a difference.
The event requires about 100 volunteers and the center is still looking for about 50 people to step up. The volunteer duties would include helping people sign in the day before and the day of the race. Your job would begin early, about 4:45 a.m., but you’d also be done early. Duties only extend until about 10:30 a.m. that morning. With just a small time commitment, you are making a huge impact on the lives of people who need it. You can sign up to volunteer here.
If you are participating in the race, remember there’s no need to run. Walking is just fine. Also, the event is dog-friendly.
In addition to the 5k, there is also a 10k. There will be a fun run dash and face painting for the kids. In short, this is an event for the whole family.
If you’d like more information or have any other questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.