Halloween Themed Race Returns to Scare Hunger Away

Paterson, NJ, October 13, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Barwick Marketing & Events Group is hosting the 2nd Annual Halloween 3.1 — 5K to Scare Hunger Away on Sunday, October 30 at the Garret Mountain Reservation in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The event will include a timed and USATF-certified course, trick-or-treat stations for all ages, a Kids Fun Run, prizes for top finishers and best costumes, food, music, and giveaways. The Halloween-themed race benefits CUMAC, a nonprofit agency dedicated to alleviating hunger and its root causes in Paterson, Passaic County and northern New Jersey.

Robert Barwick, organizer of the event and owner of Barwick Marketing & Events Group, started the race in 2015 in an effort to address the growing hunger problem in New Jersey. In Passaic County alone, thousands of local residents are struggling to meet their basic needs. Charitable organizations like CUMAC are providing vital services to low-income families in the area every day, but resources often run low at this time of year.

With the holiday season approaching, the CUMAC staff hopes the race will help restock the shelves of the food pantry, which currently faces a shortage in food. “The Halloween 5K is such an important event,” says Lynne Bruger, CUMAC Development Director. “The timing of the race brings in essential support right before our notoriously busy end of year. We'll feed about 7,000 people and provide holiday gifts to over 1,000 area children in November and December alone. Every person who runs or walks that day will help to make that possible.”

Over 100 people in Halloween costumes came to last year’s race, which brought in runners and walkers from all over the state. Participants are again being encouraged to dress up for the event, as awards will be given out after the race.

“Events like this one show that we really all can help end hunger in our communities, and have a little fun along the way,” says Bruger.

All participants and spectators are being asked to bring non-perishable food items to the event. With CUMAC serving thousands of clients every month, the race will help ensure that there are enough resources available during this critical time of year.

“It’s a joy knowing that by using our talent as race coordinators we can give back to the community,” says Robert Barwick, who has been coordinating events in the area for over two decades. With new partners and surprises added to the event, Barwick hopes to make this year’s Halloween 5K even more successful than last year.

The 5K to Scare Hunger Away starts at 9am on October 30. To register for the event or to learn more visit www.scarehunger5k.com. All donations will support food insecure families in northern New Jersey.

CUMAC is a 501c3 non-profit organization with multiple programs dedicated to alleviating hunger and poverty in Paterson, Passaic County and beyond. CUMAC’s programs include a food pantry that serves over 2,500 individuals every month, a food depot that handles nearly 2 million pounds of food for a network of over 50 feeding programs, a disaster relief program, a thrift shop that provides high quality, low cost items to the community, the Pathways to Work program that offers job training to those seeking gainful employment, Place of Promise which provides a permanent supportive housing program for the chronically homeless, and the Community Food Coalition, a collection of pantries working together to stop hunger in New Jersey.