A 5K run/walk to raise money for Carson High School’s Safe & Sober 2015 commencement, which has an unbroken record of zero fatality graduation nights, is scheduled Saturday morning.
The safe and sober grad night program boasts an unblemished record dating to 1988, when it began, and this weekend’s 5K event is just the fifth time it will serve as the chief fundraising tool to bolster the safe night fun later in the year.
According to John Dodge, race coordinator, 2015 graduation is on May 30 and the fundraiser features a couple of ways to raise money and help defray expenses that occur.
“It’s quite a large cost,” said Dodge, who explained graduation day is followed by a night of activities for participating graduates in thew Carson City Community Center and nearby Aquatic Center at Mills Park. The next day, the participating graduates trek to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and amusement park in Vallejo, Calif.
Dodge said it helps keep participating graduates out of harm’s way.
“That’s the whole point,” he said. About 60 percent of graduates join in the night’s activities and subsequent trip with their classmates.
The 5K fundraiser for those who pre-register costs $30 for adults 19 or older, $20 for teens from 13-19, and $15 for those 12 or younger. Late registration at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday adds $5 to those amounts. Check-in for race participants is at 9 a.m. and the event begins at 10 a.m. at the high school. The starting line is at the high school track facility, weather permitting.
There also is a raffle drawing, with each ticket $5 or five for $20, which adds to the total brought in by this February fundraising event. Those who pre-register will receive participant T-shirts. A pre-registration packet pickup is set for Thursday at Que’s BBQ, 230 Fairview Dr., from 5-8 p.m. People also may register there then if they haven’t yet.
The Safe & Sober 5K and the night itself are organized by volunteers of the Safe Grad committee under the auspices of the Carson High Parents, Teachers & Students Association, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, according to Dodge. A flier put out for people who want to register said the grad night event in May “provides our graduating seniors with a safe and sober, all night celebration” at a time of potential risk.
“This event,” according to the flier, “has been a tremendous success in that not one graduation night fatality for a Carson High School graduate has occurred since its inception.”
