The 7th Annual Community Fun & Fitness Relays (CFFR), held Sunday, May 4th, 2025, were a little chilly, but our great volunteers, spectators and participants made it a day to remember! Again, we were hosted by Carbondale Community High School (CCHS) at their Track & Field Complex. CCHS staffers Gwen Poore and Caleb Belcher were instrumental in making sure our participants and spectators had a great experience. Additionally, students and staff from the CCHS Track and Field team volunteered well, along with a number of other steadfast volunteers who helped make it a great experience for all.  ​ Our other major sponsors, in addition to CCHS, included the Carbondale Park District (CPD) and Southern Illinois Health (SIH).  CPD provided volunteers, water coolers, CPR/AED coverage as well as insurance coverage for the event.  SIH support helped us purchase supplies needed for the meet.  These major sponsors made it possible for us to put on a first-class event for our community participants and make significant donations to our charities. We also had several very generous individual donors this year, which will allow us to provide even more assistance to our beneficiaries.  ​ Again, one of our two beneficiaries this year is NubAbility, a DuQuoin-based organization that provides athletic opportunities for limb-different youngsters from all over the country to work with limb-different coaches in a variety of sports. NubAbility Founder Sam Kuhnert and other staff joined us to cheer on participants on Race Day. Our other beneficiary this year was Green Tropics Group (GTG) is a non-profit initiative founded in 1993 to promote sustainable development in agricultural practices in the cocoa-growing Eastern and Ashanti regions of Ghana, West Africa. Their areas of focus include natural resource management and conservation, supporting economically disadvantaged cocoa farmers and their families through implementation of clean water projects, improving sanitation, increasing participation of youth in the cocoa farming sector, and meeting other areas of need in the region's struggling agricultural communities. Learn more about GTG's work at their website: https://www.greentropicsgroup.org/.​ Race results and photos are available at the results and photos links on this website.  Thank you, again, to everyone who took part and to the individuals below who were instrumental to the meet’s success this year.  Kathy Hollister – Clerk of Course  Art Ashbrook — Race Starter  Dave McKenzie – Meet Announcer  Jontavious Olive — Photographer Jocelyn Lin  — National Anthem  Christopher, IL, Scout Troop – Opening Flag Ceremony  Clair Hayes and Dianah McGreehan – Registration  Julie Grosse – Pre-Registration & Results Coordinator  Brehm Prep School Parent Association & Be the Change Club students – Concessions  Ron Rogers and Mary Beth Goff – Long Jump  Henry Harsy — Shot Put  CPD Volunteers — Ryan, Sophia, & Taylor ​ Since nearly the beginning of our work on CFFR, we have partnered with SIU students from the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) to handle our social media, flyer design and website marketing efforts.  These students worked with us to develop a social media calendar, draft press releases and post our event on Facebook and Instagram.   This year's PRSSA partners were:  Kendra Gregory, Josie King, Bella Colonna. Thanks for all your hard work on the CFFR!  Past PRSSA partners include: 2023  Alexis Parchman, Ashlyn Ege, Carter Walton 2022  Tadzia Lee 2021  CFFR Cancelled Due to COVID 2020  CFFR Cancelled Due to COVID 2019  Haven Thompson 2018  Hannah Colbrook