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Race for Warmth helps keep the heat on for needy

Runners, walkers raise thousands to aid people who struggle to pay electric bills

By Stevie Mathieu, Columbian Assistant Metro Editor
Published: January 31, 2016, 8:22pm
6 Photos
Heather Luarca, from left, Summer Murphy and Karen Chan finish the 5K run Sunday during the Race for Warmth in Vancouver. Proceeds from race registration will go to Clark Public Utilities&#039; Operation Warm Heart program, which helps customers in need pay their power bills.
Heather Luarca, from left, Summer Murphy and Karen Chan finish the 5K run Sunday during the Race for Warmth in Vancouver. Proceeds from race registration will go to Clark Public Utilities' Operation Warm Heart program, which helps customers in need pay their power bills. (Steve Dipaola for the Columbian) Photo Gallery

Twelve-year-old Averi Lewis and a few of her cross-country teammates decided they’d run Sunday’s 5K race in Vancouver during their off season, just for fun.

So imagine Averi’s surprise as she passed the finish line first out of all the other female runners in the race.

“I can’t believe I got under 20 (minutes),” the Tualatin, Ore., seventh-grader said, beaming. Her time? Nineteen minutes, 36 seconds.

At first, she said, she was nervous to run in her first 5K against adults, because “it’s just so competitive,” but “it was pretty fun — hard, but fun.”

She was one of more than 900 people who came out in the morning for the second annual Race for Warmth, organized by Clark Public Utilities. Proceeds from the race will benefit some of the utility’s customers who are struggling to pay their power bills this winter.

The event included 5K and 10K runs and a 5K walk. The race started at the Clark Public Utilities building on Fort Vancouver Way and weaved through downtown Vancouver and along the Columbia River. Runners were treated to soup, drinks and other goodies following the races.

Organizers were still crunching the numbers Sunday, but they estimated that the event raised more than $30,000 for the utility’s Operation Warm Heart program. That far surpasses the roughly $20,000 raised at last year’s run, when about 600 racers registered, said Maxie Lofton, a spokeswoman for Clark Public Utilities.

Last year, money raised from the race covered 10 percent of the money Operation Warm Heart spent to reduce customers’ bills, said Gretchen Alexander, community care manager at the utility. For those in need, the program can provide up to $300 a year per household.

Alexander said the utility’s customers aren’t struggling quite as much as they were during the Great Recession, “but people still need help. … They’re working families, but work isn’t enough.”

The program isn’t just for people whose incomes are low enough to qualify for state or federal assistance programs; people who earn more than that sometimes need help, too. Alexander said customers can call the utility’s regular customer service number to see if they qualify. Households with income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for the program.

In 2015, the program helped 685 households with an average grant of $287 per household.

Michele and Tim Ewing wanted to run in the 5K because of the good cause, and to prepare for the Ditka Dash in Chicago, which honors football legend Mike Ditka later this year. Tim Ewing, a Chicago native, said Sunday’s run was his first 5K.

“My wife asked me to. She’s done a couple of others,” he said. “I liked it. It felt like it was a lot shorter than I thought it would be.”

The couple ended the race side-by-side, playfully elbowing each other to see who could cross the finish line first. In the end, Tim Ewing wasn’t sure who bested the other.

“We’ll have to get the final results,” he said.

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Columbian Assistant Metro Editor