An Eastern honors class will be having a holiday race Sunday to raise money for One Stop Community Christmas, a local charity that helps with holiday assistance.

The charity is a part of the Salvation Army and it helps provide blankets, toys and food for families in local counties.

The EIU Holiday Hustle 5K will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday in front of Old Main and go through town, eventually turning on to the Panther Trail and ending where it started in front of Old Main. 

Andrew Donsbach, a freshman art major, worked with his classmates in the Honors 1191 class to organize the race and said it was a semester-long project.

“In our Honors 1191 class, we were assigned the task of organizing and completing a service-learning project,” Donsbach said. “Our group decided on organizing a 5K because we knew it would be a lot of fun and a challenge at the same time.”

He said despite the race happening in December, he and his group members have been working on the project since mid-September.

 “Early on, we worked mainly on logistics of the race and ensuring that it was going to be possible,” Donsbach said. “In late October, we launched our Facebook page, website, and registration was opened.”

Since registration opened, the group has been working on final details such as ordering T-shirts, which all participants will receive. If participants pre-registered, they will get their T-shirts on Saturday. 

If participants register the day of the race, they will receive them at a later date because another order has to be placed.

Check-in and late registration begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday. 

“We hope that people will not be discouraged from running, just because they were unable to register early,” Donsbach said. “Running is a great way to support this incredible organization.”

Donsbach said the holiday theme of the race came into play after they decided on a charity top benefit from the race.

“We asked Rachel Fisher in Student Community Service what a good, local organization was that is sometimes overlooked and could use some help,” Donsbach said. “She mentioned One Stop Community Christmas, among a few others, and we took the idea of a holiday themed race and ran with it.”

After the race is completed the organizers will give out awards for the best times.

The categories are: participants ages 16 and under, ages 16-20, ages 21-30, ages 31-40, ages 41-50, and ages 51 and older.

Overall, Donsbach said working on the race has been a positive experience but that his looking forward to the actual race when they will be done with the planning and logistics.

“My group and I were just talking the other day about how we don’t know what we are going to do when it’s over; it’s become such a big part of our lives,” Donsbach said. “We love seeing it all come together and can’t wait to see the turnout on Saturday.”

Amy Wywialowski can 

be reached at 581-2812 

or [email protected].