Annual Southwestern Seminary Stride Race Raises Donations to Increase Campus Safety
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) held its annual Seminary Stride 5K race on April 16, raising funds to increase safety on its Forth Worth campus in Texas.
With more than 150 people competing in the race this year, including approximately 30 Southwestern students, faculty and staff participants.
The event raised a total of $2,712, which will be used toward purchasing necessary security equipment, according to SWBTS news release.
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"It went really well; it was really smooth," said Jessica Moore, administrative coordinator at the seminary's Recreation Aerobics Center, who served as coordinator for this year's event.
Representative runners selected from each department at the seminary ran a fundraising campaign where each dollar they received in donation "bought" one second off their overall final time. These efforts added $712 to $1,000 given in outright donations and $1,000 donated by Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart, which has regularly given donation of nearly $200 worth of bottled water and fruit for runners in the previous years, implemented a new matching donation program this year. It had agreed to match $1,000 in donation if the same amount could be raised through the event to help purchase bicycles for the security officers.
Randy Austin, chief of security at Southwestern, said the funds would allow the purchase of as many as three to five bicycles, along with the necessary protective equipment for the riders.
Pointing out the Fort Worth Police Department's agreement to offer the seminary bicycle patrol training at no cost, he added, "This will help increase our safety and mobility."
He also mentioned the appreciation of the local residents, who view campus security as a deterrent for crime in the neighborhood.
"As we begin to expand our patrol with the bicycles, it's going to increase our visibility more," he said. "The neighborhoods really love that."
