Source: Submitted Photo / Wheeler Mission
INDIANAPOLIS — As the starting horn echoed through the streets of Broad Ripple on Thanksgiving morning, a wave of runners, families, and friends set off to navigate the course at the 21st annual Wheeler Mission Drumstick Dash. The event has become a Hoosier Thanksgiving tradition, not just for its athletic challenges but for the spirit of giving.
Brian Crispin, Senior Director of Community Relations and Development at Wheeler Mission, reveals that the mission exceeded its target of 15,000 race registrants for this year’s event one day earlier than anticipated.
“It was a great moment when we found out we hit that,” he said. “Our goal was to raise one million dollars and hit that goal on Thursday. That was exciting because Wheeler Mission owns and operates the event. We started the race in 2003, hoping it would be one of our big fundraisers and become our biggest fundraising event.”
Wheeler Mission offers shelter, food, and assistance to the homeless. According to Crispin, funds from the race will support the mission’s distribution of 1000 daily meals and its long-term services for individuals requiring addiction treatment and mental health support.
“We have staff and case managers and people trained to start digging into the root issues in their life and start to plug them into long or short-term programs or whatever it takes to get them out of the situation,” he said. “We can plug them into one of these programs and get them to a point when they achieve long-term success.”
