Rain didn't dampen Sunshine's first 5K fundraiser

Despite last weekend's torrential downpours, there was a little peek of sunshine at the Edgewood Greenway in Jefferson City last Saturday - or rather, a little box of sunshine.

The "Little Box of Sunshine 5K Walk, Run and Roll" drew 123 participants. "Roll" refers to people in wheelchairs, who were also welcome to participate in the race.

All finishers received custom finisher medals.

"There was a lot of people who registered that morning," said Olivia Hennon, a freshman at Helias High School who founded the charity last year. The organization provides hospitalized children with homemade boxes containing donated items.

All of the money raised at the event went directly to Little Box of Sunshine to purchase items for care packages. Hennon said funds raised from registration fees alone totaled $3,505.

Her 501(c)(3) charity also received further donations and has sponsorships from Diamond Pet Foods, Hawthorn Bank, Custom Screen Printing and Embroidery, Diamond Ridge Dentistry and Capital Region Medical Center's Vein Care clinic. The charity's biggest sponsor is the Carson & Coil law firm.

Hennon started Little Box of Sunshine in honor of her friend, Margaret Romph, who in 2009 suffered spinal cord injuries in a car accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down.

When Hennon visited Romph while she was at University of Missouri's Women's and Children's Hospital for more than two months last summer, "I saw how boring and sad some of the hospital rooms were and how long some of the kids had to stay there," Hennon said.

Since June, Little Box of Sunshine has raised money to organize and donate 300 care boxes to children in hospitals in Columbia, St. Louis and Kansas City to try to break the monotony.

"My goal is to help make their days a little brighter. I hope that through our work, smiles are brought to a few kids' faces," Hennon said.

She explained Jefferson City does not have special pediatric wards where young patients stay for extended periods of time, so that's why no boxes have been delivered here.

She said each box usually costs about $25 to put together and contains items like a homemade card from another child, a pillowcase, coloring book, crayons, a stuffed animal and a puzzle.

That means the funds raised last Saturday were enough to cover the costs of at least 140 more boxes.

"At Helias, a group of kids get together, and we bring all the supplies," she explained of how the boxes are put together. About 15 students take an hour or hour and a half to put the boxes together.

Although the group typically does a fall and a spring delivery, they gather supplies all year.

"I hope to double our number (this year) and deliver at least 600 boxes," Hennon said.

The only previous fundraiser Little Box of Sunshine has held was the seventh annual Miracles 4 Margaret Benefit Golf Scramble and Silent Auction, which benefited Romph and the charity her friend started in her honor. The eighth annual event will be Sept. 24 at Turkey Creek Golf Course, starting at 2 p.m. Four-person scramble teams cost $75 per player.

In terms of other future fundraisers, "we've talked about doing stuff in Helias at the fall," but Hennon said that will involve more planning over the summer. She said it might include T-shirt sales, and she's working with Custom Screen Printing and Embroidery to develop a design for shirts.

She decided on a race as a fundraiser because her parents are runners. "They have a lot of friends who we thought we could get involved," she said, and a race was "a way to get more people involved that wasn't too expensive."

She said Dana and Kathy Frese in particular helped organize the 5K, and the board of directors - consisting of her parents Doug and Lisa Hennon, Julie Maschmann, Sherline Romph, Linda Harvey and Maureen Quinn - has been the biggest support to the organization.

She said the best way people can support Little Box of Sunshine through donation is by monetary contributions, but some item donations will be accepted, too.

On the charity's website, littleboxofsunshine.weebly.com, items listed include latex-free, non-religious toys, preferably yellow; gel pens; coloring books; and gift cards to places like Hobby Lobby, U.S. Toy, Oriental Trading, Target, Walmart and Five Below.

Items can be sent to P.O. Box 105773, Jefferson City, MO, 65110.

Little Box of Sunshine apparel is also available to purchase, and orders can be made via the group's Facebook page or by contacting the group via its website.