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.