Celebrating 40 Years with 10th Annual Run 4 Independence

Are you Ready to Run?

Elk Grove Food Bank Services is marking its 40^th year of continuous service with the 10^th annual Run 4 Independence.  Start off Independence Week by joining runners and walkers to celebrate with the Food Bank on Saturday, June 28, 2014, beginning at 8:00 a.m.  

The event includes 5k and 10k courses that start in beautiful Elk Grove Regional Park and winds through the surrounding neighborhoods.  For kids 12 and under, there are half-mile and quarter-mile fun runs.

The Run features disposable chip timing for the 5k/10k; Age group awards; Team awards; Short-sleeve Run T-shirts; flat course; post-run food, entertainment and the Pride of Laguna Lions will serve their famous pancakes.

Proceeds from the Run 4 Independence will benefit Elk Grove Food Bank Services (EGFBS), a non-profit dedicated to alleviating hunger, develop programs to address food insecurity in our community; build client self-sufficiency; and provide an opportunity for volunteerism.  A portion of the proceeds will also support P.A.T.H (People Assisting the Homeless), a non-profit organization that assists and mentors the homeless in Elk Grove.  The EGFBS serves over 3,500 clients each month and has approximately 42,000 client encounters annually.  For more information visit: www.elkgrovefoodbank.org or to register:  www.run4independence.com.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Display at the Run

For the kids in the community, Monterey Bay Aquarium will set up an interactive, educational display about the ocean and marine wildlife.  While cooling down from participating in the Run, you can learn more about the animals and plants that live in our oceans.  The display from Monterey Bay Aquarium will be in Elk Grove Regional Park during our Run 4 Independence. 

What:  Monterey Bay Aquarium Display at EGFBS Run 4 Independence

When:  Saturday, June 29, 2013, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Where:  Elk Grove Regional Park, 9950 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Elk Grove, CA  95624

Run Registration at Leatherby's

Less than two weeks to our 9th Annual Run 4 Independence!  For your convenience, you can register for the Run at Leatherby's Family Creamery, 8238 Laguna Boulevard this Saturday, June 22, 2013, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Our happy volunteers will be out front to help you with your registration paperwork. 

All Signed Up for the Run 4 Independence!

Just got all of the registration forms turned in for my family.  The kids will be virtual runners, as they have obligations out of the area this summer.  Hub will be running the 10K, I will be walking (slowly) the 5K. 

If you want to register for our Run, you can do so at the website. 

The Run 4 Independence is held on the last Saturday in June, this year:  Saturday, June 29, 2013.  The event includes 5K and 10K courses and two different Fun Runs for the kids. 

Proceeds from the Run 4 Independence benefit Elk Grove Food Bank Services, a non-profit dedicated to alleviating hunger, developing programs to build client self-sufficiency and providing an opportunity for volunteerism.  The work of EGFBS benefits over 3,300 individuals from the Elk Grove area each month. 

Run 4 Independence - The Sponsors' Reception

Steve has participated in our Run for the past 6 years

 Deb put together another wonderful reception in the warehouse portion of our facilty.  The warehouse cleaned up nicely and the sorting tables made good serving tables for the wonderful food from Brick House.  Our sponsors got to see the inner workings of our food bank, with staff providing informal tours.  

Jeri Retzlaff, Chairperson of our Board of Directors, thanked and welcomed everyone and did some reporting on the numbers from the Run.  Jeri said that the accounting was not done yet, but the preliminary numbers show the Run will profit in the neighborhood of $60,000!!  Jeri stated that the number of participants was 1,300 runners and walkers.

Thank you Sponsors and the Elk Grove community for making our Run such a success!

 Representing the Elk Grove Citizen, Mary Lewis and

Kathy Sansone from EG Quilt Guild

 Harp, Lovedeep and Stephanie from Wells Fargo.  

Stephanie is our newest Board Member.

Brooke from Chick-fil-A and

Jeff Ramos from CSD

 Tisha, Run 4 Independence Chairperson

Mike, R4I social media and Sharon

From Operating Engineers Local 3:  Matt Schraeder, Greg Dornback and

Dale, EGFBS Operations Coordinator

Travis, EGFBS Operations Manager

John Hall and Betty Hall, Board Member

Again, we thank all of our Sponsors from the Run, the runners and walkers and the many volunteers who came out to make our Run a wonderful success!!  Thank you!  See you next year! 

Another KCRA Report and More Photos from the Run

KCRA had another report on their evening news.  Board member, Mike Retzlaff, was interviewed and Leticia Ordaz reported from inside the EG Food Bank warehouse. 
 
Here is a link to more photos from the Run 4 Independence. 

Run 4 Independence

Runners and walkers wait for the start of Run 4 Independence 5K and 10K race.  

 This year the Run was dedicated to our organization's co-founder, Bob Fossgreen.

KCRA covered our Run on their morning news.  Here is a link to the coverage. 

The start of the race was exciting, with all of the runners and walkers making their way through our beautiful Elk Grove Regional Park.  While I waited for the runners to circle the course, I met up with a few notable supporters of Elk Grove Food Bank Services.  

Board Member Mike Retzlaff and Assembly Member Dr. Richard Pan

Sheri, Chick-fil-A cow, Shania and Harley (the dog)

I went back to the finish line to try to catch some of our Board and staff who were participating in the Run.

Deb finished strong

I missed Board Members Dean Scourtes and Chris Vogt at the finish.  I also missed Operations Manager Travis Ham.  After the race, I caught up with other participants. 

Hailey, Evelyn and Braden

Gym Bratz:  Sherrie Prettyman, Deb Luck, Pam Thompson, Victoria Johnson and daughter

We thank our community for coming out early this morning to support Elk Grove Food Bank Services.

We truly appreciate the time and effort from our enormous group of volunteers; all have done their part to make this a spectacular annual event!

To our kind sponsors who have stepped forward in support of our Mission and helped us immensely with this Run, our biggest fundraiser of the year:  Thank you!

Thanks to all! 

The Running Zone Makes Donation

I arrived at work to find three huge bags of donated items from our friends at The Running Zone.  I opened the bags and found them full of athletic shoes, lightly used ones.  Deb got in touch with Mimi at The Running Zone and found out about their program to collect lightly used shoes from their customers for donation to EGFBS.

These are just a portion of the shoes donated.

In addition to the lightly used shoes, our friends at The Running Zone included some new sports clothing. 

Thank you to our kind partners at The Running Zone, an active sponsor to our Run 4 Independence on Saturday, June 30, 2012.  We appreciate your faithful support to Elk Grove Food Bank Services over the years.  

The Running Zone

8470 Elk Grove Boulevard, Elk Grove, CA  95758

Phone:  916-478-9663

Located in the Elk Grove Corners shopping center across from Walmart near the drive-thru Starbucks coffee

Report a map error

All Signed Up For the Run

I am not quite sure if all of my kids will be in town on Saturday, June 30th.  I signed them all up for the 5K anyway.  So its my Hub in the 10K, and the three kids and me in the 5K.  I'll be walking (slowly). 

If you are able, please come out to support Elk Grove Food Bank Services by walking or running in our Run 4 Independence.  This event is our biggest fundraiser of the year and has an event for all ages:  Kids' 1/4 and 1/2 mile fun run, 5K run/walk, and a 10K.

Check out the details at the beautiful website made just for the Run or the Run's facebook.

Run 4 Independence
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Elk Grove Regional Park
916-685-8453

Youngest Sponsor Ever For Run 4 Independence

Nine year old Jacob Martin, student of St. Elizabeth Anne Seton Catholic School, is raising money in support of our Run 4 Independence. Recently, Jacob visited our warehouse facility to see for himself what it takes to distribute food to the hungry in Elk Grove. He shadowed volunteers and learned about sorting canned goods.


Jacob likes to help people, and decided to support EGFBS because he wants to help people in his community. He has been informing his network of family and friends about the services our organization provides, and is collecting donations. This young man is working his way to making a difference in the Elk Grove area.


Jacob's personal goal is to raise $200 in support of our Run 4 Independence. He is almost half way there! Thank you, Jacob, for your work to help people in Elk Grove.

Parade of Lights

A group of creative volunteers transformed a pick-up truck and trailer into a magical parade float for Elk Grove’s Parade of Lights.


It was a wonderful way to inform the community about the need that exists here in Elk Grove and encourage the public to support their local food bank.