Salesianum to host 5k in honor of fallen officer
Salesianum High School in Wilmington is hosting a 5k run/walk fundraiser this Saturday in honor of fallen police officer, Lieutenant Joseph Szczerba.
This is the first fundraiser Salesianum High School is hosting in honor of Lieutenant Joseph Szczerba, an all-star football player and 1985 graduate of the Roman Catholic boy’s school.
Szczerba an 18-year veteran of the New Castle County Police department was killed in the line of duty in September of 2011.
Headmaster Brenden Kenealley said this weekend’s 5k will raise money for scholarships for Salesianum students who have parents who are local police officers and first responders.
“We have over 30 students who are children of police officers or first responders,” said Kenealley. “We have over 150 grads who are in law enforcement. So it’s something that a lot of our community members were affected by his tragic loss.”
The 5k race will be held this Saturday, October 13 during Salesianum’s Homecoming weekend, and they plan to make it an annual event.
“We’re doing it at our homecoming because that’s when we have a lot of our alumni come back and there are a lot of other events going on,” said Kenealley. “We wanted to have it be something a lot of folks could attend because there was so much interest and it’s something we definitely want to continue.
The school expects between 400-500 participants including Governor Jack Markell and Senator Chris Coons.
“We’ve got confirmation from Governor Markell and Senator Coons that they’ll be attending and they may run,” said Keneally. “I think we’ll have strong support from the law enforcement community and we’re going to have our alumni and we’re encouraging folks from the community to come out.”
The 5k will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at Salesianum. Registration starts at 7:30. All ages are welcome.
The cost to participate is $25 and participants can register the day of the event or online at races2run.com.
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