For the second year, the Atlanta Track Club (ATC), organizer of the Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving Day 5K, will once again host a canned food drive at the Atlanta Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo on Tuesday, November 20 and Wednesday, November 21 at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. All food collected during the two-day Expo will be donated to the Annual 11Alive Can-a-thon benefiting The Salvation Army on Friday, November 30. Participants in the Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving Day 5K are encouraged to bring a canned food item with them when they go to pick up their race number bibs at the Atlanta Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo. Over 700 cans of food were collected at the 2011 Atlanta Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo.
“The Atlanta Track Club makes giving back to the community that we run through a priority, and we are thrilled to once again have the opportunity to challenge our participants to donate cans of food to benefit the Salvation Army and the many metro Atlanta families who they serve,” said Tracey Russell, executive director of the Atlanta Track Club. “We saw such a positive response from our participants who donated food at the 2011 Atlanta Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo, and we are excited to see the impact we can have this year.”
In addition to the canned food drive, the Atlanta Track Club will also make a donation of $27,000 that will be split among 17 churches located along the Atlanta Half Marathon course to benefit their feed the hungry programs during the holidays.
The Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving Day 5K along with the Mashed Potato Mile and Gravy Gallop kids’ fun runs take place on Thanksgiving morning just outside of Turner Field. Over 12,000 participants are expected to take part in the 2012 Atlanta Half Marathon events. Additional information regarding the Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving Day 5K can be found at atlantahalfmarathon.org.