Pacific Index

SEA hosts their second annual 5k to fundraise for the local Portland nonprofit, Friends of Trees 

Pacific’s Student for Environmental Activism club (SEA) is hosting their second annual 5k for Earth Day. By far their biggest event of the year, co-president Emma Seres spills all the details on what to expect and why to come. “We’re hoping to get a lot of community members, as well as students to come,” she expresses. 

   Seres recalls the success of last year’s race sharing, “It turned out good, I was happy with it…we had a lot of people come and it was really fun at the end—we had a bubble gun!” During last year’s event, the finish line was marked with chalk and loaded with bubble guns to celebrate finishers. “We had these wooden custom design medals to give out to the first three people, so we’re going to be doing that again.” 

   For those who participated last year, this race will be relatively similar, except for a few improvements—namely, a less complicated route. “We’re definitely making it less complicated that last year because we had some feedback…very welcome feedback,” she teases with a knowing smile. The route last year was a series of twists and turns, somewhat mimicking the feeling of racing through a maze, but this years race will stick close to campus and run in a circular pattern to help everyone stay on track. 

   “At the end we’re going to have chalk for just chill time, music, snacks, and coffee,” Seres elaborates, nodding a thanks to Telvet for the donation of coffee for the second year in a row. The race, as well as the after party, is all a fundraiser, with the proceeds going entirely to a Portland nonprofit. “All the proceeds are going to Friends of Trees, which is an organization we work with a lot to do tree planting around Forest Grove and also in Portland,” she explains. 

   The money is raised through the admission prices, which start at $10 for kids and students and $15 for adults. They also have a “pay it forward” option where people can donate money to cover the admission cost for those who can’t pay, but still want to race. “We have a registration site that you can access through the university marketplace, which has all the other clubs and organizations that sell stuff,” she details. “That’s where our site is and it has the map and payment, and then you get another email with information on where to park and everything.” 

   Aside from this big event, SEA also does tree planting, hikes, and other environmentally focused activities. Seres encourages anyone interested in these sorts of events to join the club.    “You get to make new friends, and as an upper classman, seeing the freshmen come in and being interested in our club…I’m like ‘yay, you’re here !’” She expresses with an excited smile. “It’s cool building community inside of our school….in general it’s just really cool being able to have that option to be more engaged in the student body and put your voice there ; if you want to be on an exec board, or just in a club participating in events, it just makes the campus happier.” 

The Earth Day 5k will take place on Saturday, April 25 at 9 am, starting in the Hanson Stadium.