Freed To Run Archives - Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc.

Freed to Run Challenge includes 35-mile bicycle ride

Freed to Run Challenge includes 35-mile bicycle ride

In addition to the 12- and 24-hour relay walks and runs around the Duval County Courthouse, the Freed to Run Challenge fundraiser next month for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid also features a bicycle ride from St. Augustine to Jacksonville. Cyclists will begin pedaling at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 24 at the RichardO. Watson Judicial Center parking lot at 4010 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine. The 35-mile route starts in St. Johns County, heading north on U.S. 1 and then turning onto Atlantic Boulevard and San Marco Boulevard in Duval County. The route crosses the Acosta Bridge and then follows Forsyth and Clay streets to the finish line on the lawn at the courthouse at 501 W. Adams St. Transportation back to St. Augustine for riders and their bikes is provided at about 1 p.m. The event benefits JALA’s Shelter for Elders Endowment, which supports the growing number of people over 60 seeking help with housing issues like reverse mortgage foreclosures, scams, wrongful evictions and discrimination.

Dennis Harrison2024-10-23T12:48:53-04:00October 23rd, 2024|Freed To Run, News|

November’s Freed to Run Challenge Offers Everyone the Chance to Support JALA’s Shelter for Elders Initiative

November’s Freed to Run Challenge Offers Everyone the Chance to Support JALA’s Shelter for Elders Initiative

Gunster Shareholder and marathoner Mike Freed and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid – joined by several event directors from the Northeast Florida community – are gearing up for the 2024 Freed to Run Challenge, a two-day event November 23-24 to benefit JALA’s Shelter for Elders endowment funding housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. Individual runners, relay teams, walkers, and bikers will raise funds for the endowment through peer-to-peer fundraising based on a challenge to complete half-mile laps around the Duval County Courthouse in a period of either 12 or 24 hours. Other options are to run a 5k or to bike from the St. Johns County Courthouse to the Duval County Courthouse. Those businesses, organizations and individuals wanting to participate, donate to the endowment, or lend their in-kind support to the event can contact the appropriate director - read more at The Florida Bar.

Dennis Harrison2024-07-23T11:19:56-04:00July 23rd, 2024|Freed To Run, News, Shelter for Elders|

Freed to Run gives $195,000 to Shelter for Elders

Freed to Run gives $195,000 to Shelter for Elders

The Freed to Run Challenge, a two-day running event that debuted Nov. 17-18 at the Duval County Courthouse, raised $195,000 to benefit the Shelter for Elders program at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. The contribution supports an endowment that helps provide aid for older adults who have landlord/tenant and other housing-related legal issues but cannot afford to pay an attorney to represent them. The donation, the entry fees and sponsorships each year will be partially matched by the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund through The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. This year’s match is $25,000.

Dennis Harrison2024-02-23T08:36:22-05:00February 23rd, 2024|Freed To Run, News, Shelter for Elders|

A new cause, new format: Legal Aid fundraiser Freed to Run returns to Jacksonville

A new cause, new format: Legal Aid fundraiser Freed to Run returns to Jacksonville

Attorney Mike Freed (left) founder of the Freed to Run fundraiser for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, and Jim Kowalski, president/CEO of

Dennis Harrison2024-01-04T11:06:38-05:00November 14th, 2023|Client Stories, Endowment, Fair Housing, Freed To Run, News, Uncategorized|

Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund offers $25,000 challenge match for the Freed to Run Challenge supporting Jacksonville Area Legal Aid

Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund offers $25,000 challenge match for the Freed to Run Challenge supporting Jacksonville Area Legal Aid

Local philanthropist Delores Barr Weaver has offered a multi-year challenge grant to encourage donations to the Nov. 17-18 Freed to Run Challenge, the proceeds of which will benefit Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Shelter for Elders endowment to fund legal aid for area seniors facing housing instability. The Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund will match $25,000 in donations to the 2023 Freed to Run Challenge, provided the event raises at least $75,000 from other donors. In addition, over the following two years, the fund will match a gift of up to $25,000 from a single donor each year, dollar-for-dollar, provided that at least $50,000 can be raised from additional donors. The challenge grant is designed to help the Freed to Run Challenge meet its $100,000 fundraising goal each year. Weaver, former co-majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has a history of raising funds through running that goes back to 1990, when she offered a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge grant of up to $50,000 to a group of runners who would compete in the Boston Marathon. All the funds raised would go to the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which Weaver had established in 1987 at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in memory of her mother, Claudie Adams Barr, who died of breast cancer.

Dennis Harrison2024-01-04T11:07:33-05:00November 12th, 2023|Endowment, Freed To Run, News, Shelter for Elders, Uncategorized|

New Freed to Run Challenge event in downtown Jacksonville to support Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Shelter for Elders endowment

New Freed to Run Challenge event in downtown Jacksonville to support Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Shelter for Elders endowment

Building on the success of Freed to Run, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and Gunster Shareholder Mike Freed are launching a new initiative to create a Shelter for Elders endowment that will safeguard and strengthen JALA’s housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. “With Freed to Run, we created permanent legal aid funding to serve Northeast Florida children whose health issues are further complicated by their civil legal needs,” Freed said. “Now we are going to do the same for our elders who are faced with housing insecurity in their golden years.” Along with the new endowment comes a new event format. While Freed to Run was a six-marathon series from the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee to the Duval County Courthouse, the Freed to Run Challenge will take place on the streets surrounding the courthouse over just two days, Friday, Nov. 17, to Saturday, Nov. 18. Individual participants and relay teams will raise funds for the endowment through peer-to-peer fundraising based on a challenge to complete half-mile laps around the Duval County Courthouse in a period of either 12 or 24 hours. The distance covered by each individual or team will be measured by counting the number of laps they complete around the courthouse at any pace they choose. Participants do not need to be runners.

Dennis Harrison2023-11-25T11:30:26-05:00August 18th, 2023|Fair Housing, Freed To Run, Tangled Title|

Freed to Run is set to begin November 14

Freed to Run is set to begin November 14

Freed to Run is set to begin Nov. 14 in Tallahassee and finish in Jacksonville Nov. 19, when it is expected to have reached its goal to endow Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership (NFMLP) in perpetuity with $2.25 million raised over six years. The six marathons in the six-day series will each begin at a courthouse along the route, with relay teams running along with event founder and Gunster Shareholder Mike Freed. The final marathon will be Freed’s 36th in six years to support the partnership between JALA and area health-care institutions that provides civil legal aid to children who are chronically or critically ill. Each team is collecting donations that will enable JALA to permanently support civil legal aid to Northeast Florida pediatric patients and their families through the NFMLP. All funds raised are matched at 125 percent by Baptist Health up to $1.25 million.

Dennis Harrison2022-11-22T10:10:32-05:00November 12th, 2022|Children's Health, Endowment, Freed To Run|

Freed to Run marathon series expected to reach its $2.25 million goal Nov. 14-19 with a little help from Olympian Garrett Scantling

Freed to Run marathon series expected to reach its $2.25 million goal Nov. 14-19 with a little help from Olympian Garrett Scantling

Olympian Garrett Scantling Proceeds will fully fund an endowment for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’sNortheast Florida Medical Legal Partnership JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Dennis Harrison2022-11-10T12:46:50-05:00November 10th, 2022|Children's Health, Endowment, Freed To Run|

Jacksonville Bar’s Friendly Competition Looks to Clear Final Fundraising Hurdle for Local Non-Profit

Jacksonville Bar’s Friendly Competition Looks to Clear Final Fundraising Hurdle for Local Non-Profit

With a significant fundraising goal in its sights, the sixth annual Tallahassee-to-Jacksonville Freed to Run 6.0 marathon trek is getting a big boost, plus some extra competition compliments of the Jacksonville Bar Association.

Dennis Harrison2022-09-13T11:50:11-04:00September 13th, 2022|Children's Health, Freed To Run, News|

Big Law, mediators and solo/small-firm teams enter into three-way Jacksonville Bar Association fundraising showdown for Freed to Run

Big Law, mediators and solo/small-firm teams enter into three-way Jacksonville Bar Association fundraising showdown for Freed to Run

Members of the Jacksonville Bar Association (JBA) representing Big Law, alternative dispute resolution and solo/small firms are entering into an epic battle to see who can garner the most support for Freed to Run 6.0, which is expected to fully fund an endowment for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership (NFMLP) this November.

Dennis Harrison2022-09-08T11:43:48-04:00September 8th, 2022|Children's Health, Freed To Run, News|