Nursing Club hosts 5K run for Quiet Oaks Hospice House

The CSB+SJU Nursing Club is hosting a 5K run and walk on at 10 a.m. on April 12 at the St. Ben’s Athletic Complex. Registration is $20 and proceeds go to Quiet Oaks Hospice House in St. Cloud.

The Nursing Club president, CSB junior Ava Lenneman, spoke of the purpose for the club itself.
“The main goal of the nursing club is to build community,” Lenneman said. “We are very separated when it comes to our classes, so we want to stay involved outside of classes and build community.”

Lenneman also cited the uniqueness of the club and how weekly meetings aren’t how the nursing club operates.
“We don’t meet weekly and do the same thing,” Lenneman said. “We have events throughout the semester such as the Death Café we did in the fall and blanket-making earlier in the semester.”

The club treasurer, CSB junior Abby Reckinger, added some other events that the nursing club offers.
“We had a smores event and we have a mentorship program,” Reckinger said. “We pair juniors and seniors with freshmen and sophomores to give them a buddy as they enter their nursing curriculum.”

Lenneman spoke of their next event, the 5K, and the main purpose behind planning and executing it.
“Reaching out to more than just the nursing club itself is a main goal,” Lenneman said. “Raising awareness is important as well. We want to do something that is nursing but also applicable to the community.”

Lenneman then talked about her own personal experience at Quiet Oaks, the recipient of the proceeds for the event.
“I personally had a really great clinical experience at Quiet Oaks,” Lenneman said. “I thought it was a good opportunity to draw attention to that kind of care. Starting to break the stigma about death and dying is crucial, and the hospice house does that and draws importance to death and the dying process.”

Reckinger gave additional insights about the process of choosing where the proceeds would go and how Quiet Oaks turned out to be an easy choice.
“We wanted to be able to donate proceeds of the event somewhere,” Reckinger said. “Back in the summer, when this idea was first born, we talked about Gillette or Children’s Hospital or something in the Twin Cities. When Quiet Oaks came up, we thought it would be a lot cooler to do something local, something that people in our community have heard, and something that would benefit our community here in the St. Cloud area.”

Events like this could not happen without participants. Lenneman gave her personal expectations for the turnout of the event.
“We expect it be awesome,” Lenneman said. “Our goal is 150 people and that is what we are shooting for. We based a lot of our planning on the Snowflake Shuffle, but on a smaller scale.”

Lenneman also described the general plan for the event, which includes a giveaway.

“We’re hoping to start, run, distribute t-shirts and have some prizes at the end,” Lenneman said. “Hopefully Quiet Oaks will be there so they can table, let people know who they are and allow people to learn more about them.”

While neither Lenneman nor Reckinger will run the 5K itself, Reckinger spoke of what they will do that morning.

“I think we will be ‘running’ it,” Reckinger said. “We will be organizing the event itself and distributing T-shirts.”

Lenneman added her final thoughts about what she and other volunteers will be doing that day.

“We also need people on the course to direct and cheer people on so that is where some of our other members will be, “Lenneman said. “It would be cool to run it, but people kind of run fast, so we need to stay at home base and make sure people have a good time.”