When thousands of runners take to the streets for the first “Solutia St. Louis Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon” next October, they’ll be raising funds for a local group that helps ‘special kids’ play team sports and learn life skills.
In addition to Solutia being introduced as the title sponsor of the event Monday, TASK was introduced as the benefitting charity.
TASK stands for Team Activities for Special Kids. Founder Deb Freund says that in 15 years, her organization has gone from 27 kids playing t-ball, to over 800 playing 13 sports and participating in several clubs, “They want to have friends. They want to participate on a team, know what it’s like to score a goal, know what it’s like to be able to do the different activities and do well. It’s priceless for them just to feel like they belong.”
TASK is a special partner for Solutia CEO Jeff Quinn, whose daughter Grace has been an athlete there for over a decade, “What you see is social growth. Special needs children have the same desire as all kids do to have those social interaction opportunities and to watch the kids grow socially has been very rewarding.”
Freund says the money raised by the marathon will help TASK build its own facility in southwest St. Louis County, which will allow it to serve up to five thousand children.
The Rock ‘n Roll Marathon, which will feature bands, cheerleaders and other events every mile along the route, is scheduled for October 23.
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