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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Big buddies, belles and bunnies at 5k

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An April 4 5k benefitting The Big Buddy Program features both the Easter Bunny and the Azalea Belles.

The sixth annual Azalea Festival Big Buddy 5k, which also includes a 10k and a fun walk, kicks off a week of Azalea Festival events culminating in the following weekend’s street fair and parade.

Cape Fear Volunteer Center executive director and race founder Annie Anthony said she created the race to encourage people traveling to Wilmington for the Azalea Festival to come for the entire week, not just the marquee events.

Anthony said she expects around 200 participants for the 2015 race through Mayfaire Town Center. The Easter Bunny will blow the air horn to start the race and bring a basket of Easter eggs to hand out to children.

“And if the kids are under 12, they get to run or walk for free,” Anthony said.

Azalea Belles dressed in colorful gowns will pose throughout the course, she said, and the Azalea Festival princesses will hand out water.

“We’re using more festival colors in the T-shirts,” Anthony added. “We try to make sure the festival is honored in everything we do.”

The race usually draws a number of casual runners, she said, but the cash prizes attract a few of the more serious athletes, too.

“We’ve always done $100 for the top female and top male in the 5k and 10k,” Anthony said.

Among the runners will be participants in the Cape Fear Volunteer Center’s Big Buddy Program, which matches at-risk children with volunteer mentors.

Proceeds from the race help pay rent on the program’s downtown office space and the salary of its lead staff member, Christine Lancaster, but awareness created by the event could also attract sponsors for the program’s other smaller expenses.

One such expense is the monthly birthday party that celebrates every little buddy who has a birthday during that month. Each little buddy receives a gift. Lifepoint Church donates the event space, Big Buddy intern Sarah Beavis said, and last month Bruster’s Real Ice Cream provided a cake. Sponsor donations would help buy presents for the kids.

Beavis said these birthday parties — as well as other events at educational locations like the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher — provide a valuable opportunity for little buddies to match with big buddies.

Once a little buddy is matched with a big buddy, the pair can attend movies, do homework, or simply play outside. A lot of the children, Beavis said, come from households with many siblings and limited parental guidance.

“I actually just got matched yesterday,” Beavis said, “… with this little girl, and she’s got a lot of inconsistencies in her life. … Her smile just lit up the room when I said that I was going to be her big buddy. … A lot of them don’t get a lot of one-on-one time with any adults … so they’re kind of lost, and the big buddies can come in and be that role model.”

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