Members of the Utah Highway Patrol have organized a 5K walk/run at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus on behalf of a fellow trooper who has breast cancer.
Register for the race
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Individuals can also pay $15 the day of the race.
Trooper Bonnie Kunz was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of this year and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. The expenses from the treatments have put added stress on both her and her family.
“Luckily, she has a good prognosis, but now she has to worry about bills,” says Utah Highway Patrol trooper Dave Antonsen. “She has a family. She has a husband who works. They’re not struggling; they weren’t struggling before but [cancer] takes its toll.”
The idea for a fundraiser came from several co-workers who were concerned about Kunz and wanted to reach out.
They began selling pink bracelets for $10 to raise money on her behalf. Bracelets are still on sale for people to buy, and they give entrance to the race, which is on Sept. 21 at 8 a.m.
As planning for the event began, there were several hurdles troopers and staff encountered. One was getting the word out and getting enough people to donate. They also didn’t realize there was a lot of time involved in planning something like this.
“[Planning] was a learning curve, at least for me,” says Antonsen. “To me it was, ‘we are going to the Redwood campus, set up a route and call it good,’ but there was a lot more to it because of the rules the college has at campus.”
Those involved in planning discovered the college requires a school sponsor for events held at the school.
The Student Life and Leadership club, Latinos in Action, agreed to fund the race. Also, planners were able to get sponsorship from the Utah Highway Patrol Association.
