Girl Scout Organizing 5K Run to Help Special Olympians

Jackie Cohen is organizing a fundraiser to benefit the Special Olympics New Jersey’s Passaic County chapter.

Cohen is putting together a 5-kilometer run to purchase equipment and uniforms for a team in the county. Organizing planning, and running the event is the community service project for her Girl Scout gold award.

The Special Olympics New Jersey is a non-profit organization that provides year-round sports training to more than 22,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

A gold award is the most prestigious award a Girl Scout can receive. Cohen is a member of Troop 171. The student has spent time with special needs students at lunch and recess through the school’s Epic program. That's where she got the idea for the project.

“I enjoy spending time with them. They’re such great people,” Cohen said. “There needs to be more information out there about the Special Olympics. I didn’t even know much about it until I started my research for this project.”

Cohen has had to do a lot of work just to get the project off the ground. She has spoken to the Board of Education about using A.P. Terhune and the to see if officers are available to work the run route and ensure everyone’s safety. She must work at least 90 hours on the project.

“It has been a great experience so far and I know that I’m doing something to help other people and that’s what really matters,” Cohen said.

The run will be held on Sunday, June 3 at . Registration begins at 8:45 a.m.; the run begins at 10 a.m.

Registration costs $20. The fee increases to $25 after May 25. Children 10 and younger may run for free.

Participants can register for the event through a Web site Cohen created.

For more information, call or e-mail Cohen at 973-694-4465 or jackiecohenrun4sonj@mail.com.

Those who want to register by mail should print out a registration form from the Web site and mail it to: Special Olympics New Jersey – Passaic County 5K, 3 Princess Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Checks should be made payable to Special Olympics New Jersey, Put Jackie Cohen gold award in the memo line.