Ragtag Running and Morning Grind hosted an inaugural Autumn Dash 5K Nov. 16 as a food drive to support Cafe Central.
“This 5K was a culmination of what we have been building over the last six months between our local running club and Morning Grind. We wanted to purpose the running community we’ve built to give back to our community,” said Bailey Miller, leader of Ragtag Running.
Ragtag Running is a local running club established in 2022 by Miller.
The goal behind the club is to encourage anyone in the community to “start somewhere” in running and to “better your best” to promote growth. The club meets on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings at Morning Grind, a local coffee shop.
“Morning Grind is always looking for ways to give back and Bailey brought the idea to us to host a 5K with a benefit partner,” said Bridgette Smith, Morning Grind co-owner. “It felt natural to host a food drive alongside the holiday season,” added Miller. “We felt it could make a greater impact on the community during this season.”
Cafe Central is a soup kitchen created in 2009 to fight hunger in Baldwin County. Originally, meals were prepared off-site and served in the fellowship hall of Church Central but as the cafe grew, it eventually moved to Freedom Church Family Life Center to provide for growing numbers.
The kitchen currently serves more than 400 meals weekly, and more than 1,000 meals each Thanksgiving.
“I’m a local pastor so I was aware of Pastor (Timothy) Thomas at Freedom Church and Cafe Central. He expressed the Autumn Dash could be a great benefit to them, so we decided to partner together,” said Miller.
The Autumn Dash has a total of 131 participants and collected over 653 cans for Cafe Central. The donations were dropped off on Nov. 16 and the majority of the food collected was used in the Thanksgiving dinner Nov. 19. Then, the rest of the food was sent home with families who attended the dinner.
“The majority of the individuals at the Autumn Dash were running with us for the first time. It was very exciting,” said Miller.
“The run was great, and everyone came together for a likeminded interest and greater purpose. All of our contributions were something that could not only be eaten at Thanksgiving dinner but taken home to last through New Year’s.”
Miller and Smith are currently planning to host a fun run Dec. 9 alongside a toy drive. As of The Baldwin Bulletin’s deadline, specific details about times and registration were not complete. Please refer to the Morning Grind and Ragtag Running Facebook pages for more information.
“The turnout and generosity at the Autumn Dash exceeded all our expectations,” said Smith.
“We’re so grateful to everyone who participated and contributed to this wonderful cause. We can't wait to put on future events, like our upcoming fun run, to continue building a running culture and make a positive impact in the community.”