Bringing Hope for a Brighter Today

Your contribution to the KGL5K will make a difference in our community immediately, and for many years to come.  We have chosen three recipients this year.  The first, Comfort Zone Camp^®, is an amazing place for grieving children to heal, have fun and be a child!  Our goal is to provide a substantial gift to their travel fund, which provides transportation expenses to camp for children and a parent or caregiver who live a distance away from camp.  In continuation of our tradition of helping an individual child from our community who is in need, we have chosen four month old Jameson Ward as our second recipient.    And finally, in an effort to touch the lives of children for many years to come, the race will benefit a new Children’s Building at Cool Spring Baptist Church.  A welcome center will be named for Kristen and will foster all that Kristen is known for – her love for Jesus, her infectious smile and her fun-loving personality.

Comfort Zone Camp^®
Comfort Zone Camp^®, a fun and safe place for grieving children, is the nation's largest bereavement camp for children who have experienced the loss of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. Camps are held in Richmond, Virginia and in New Jersey, and are open to all grieving children from across the country.

The program was developed by grief therapists over nine years ago, strategically combining fun activities with more introspective times to help children grieve and begin mending their tender hearts. The idea is the brainchild of co-founders Lynne and Kelly Hughes. Lynne suffered the loss of both parents before the age of 12 and is personally aware of the challenges children face as they grieve.

Children are matched one-on-one with a trained adult volunteer, many of whom have experienced their own personal loss. This "Big Buddy" is solely devoted to a child for the weekend, helping them in arts and crafts, playing with them in games, facing challenges together with them on a ropes course, and supporting them in small groups called "healing circles^SM." All healing circles^SM are led by grief therapists.

The camp's activities are all designed to work with how children are known to grieve - in small doses and often in momentous ways during everyday activities.  The weekend closes with a memorial service including the children and their parents/guardians/siblings.

Comfort Zone Camp^®  is free for all campers and therefore is dependant upon donations to provide this experience.  A gift from the KGL5K will go directly to the travel expenses of children and their guardians who live a distance away from camp.  
 

Jameson Ward

A financial gift from the KGL5K to the Ward’s will help with Jameson’s medical expenses.  More importantly, we hope to support and encourage the Ward family by surrounding them with love and lifting them up in prayer as they care for their precious daughter.  The Ward’s are very appreciative of the overwhelming support from their family, friends, neighborhood, doctors, and church.  They are particularly grateful to Mended Little Hearts, which is a support organization for parents of children with similar heart defects.

Jameson has an older sister, Makenzy, who is 7 years old and attends Pearson’s Corner Elementary School.  She also has an older sister, Kelsey, who is 4 years old and attends Chamberlayne Baptist Preschool. The Wards are members of The Church of the Redeemer, and live in AshCreek in Mechanicsville, which is the neighborhood where our race is  held.