All this week the boys’ cross country team, in partnership with Operation Tomahawk, is hosting a virtual 5k in honor of Veteran’s Day to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Going into November, junior Adrian Bird knew he wanted to host a fundraiser for Veteran’s Day. He thought the cross country team, which he is a member of, would be the best outlet. However, after joining Operation Tomahawk, he learned they had plans to host a 5k as well.

“We didn’t want to take away from either group, so I contacted [Social Studies teacher Gina] Johnston and we decided it would be best if we did it together,” Bird said.

The money raised from the event will go towards the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that offers services to veterans dealing with PTSD, wartime injuries, job placement and other struggles after returning from active duty.

Even if you are unable to donate, Bird is encouraging people to get outside and be active.

We’re encouraging people to be physically active,” Bird said. “Even if you can’t donate, but you just want to go out and do a 5k or do a run in the honor of veterans, that’s obviously really great and it’s a great way to honor our country.”

He was inspired to organize the event by the sacrifices veterans have made for the country.

“I think we have to keep in mind that our veteran community has sacrificed so much for our country, and we enjoy the freedoms we have every day because of their sacrifices,” Bird said. “Obviously, that’s very important to me and I feel like that should be important to everybody because without them we wouldn’t have what we have every day.”

Bird wants to encourage the Algonquin community to be active supporters for any community they feel deserves recognition.

“I was thinking initially this would be very hard to do, but then I found out that once you get started and you actually have your idea there’s a lot of people that are willing to help you, especially at Algonquin,” Bird said. “So, if you have an idea that you want to go forward with for a cause, then you should definitely go for it.”

Although the main day was on Veteran’s Day, November 11, the 5k is open until Sunday, November 15.

If you are interested in donating to the cause visit: https://communityfundraising.woundedwarriorproject.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=3047.