BRIGHT New Year’s Message from event chair Nancy McMillan
They say that a change is as good as a rest. That may be true but perhaps not in the world of BRIGHT Run, where rest can be very short-lived.
2023 saw BRIGHT Run switch conservation areas from Dundas Valley to Christie Lake. After 16 years at Dundas, that was a big change. With some anticipatory anxiety, the phrase I used to respond to the question “how are you feeling about the new location?”, we charged ahead to do what needed to be done to accommodate our growing number of participants.
Who likes change? Not many people I know, hence the anticipatory anxiety. But, once again, our BRIGHT Run community surprised me, something I am getting accustomed to over the years. The anticipatory anxiety was minimal and a waste of time!
BRIGHT Run 2023, our 16th annual event, was a resounding success. Another old saying, less is more, did not apply to us. More was the word of the day. We had more registered participants, more dogs, more volunteers, more food vendors, more washrooms, and more golf carts. And we had more water – lake water in addition to the traditional BRIGHT Run rain.
Planning is well under way for 2024 and the focus for the year is also MORE. We have set our 2024 goal at $417,000 but we know we can do more! With more creative fundraising ideas, more time to plan a team or personal fundraiser, reaching out to more folks in our personal communities, there is the opportunity to tell more people about BRIGHT Run and ask them to participate in our fun and fundraising. We are also looking forward to announcing more BRIGHT Run-funded research projects during the year.
My wish for our BRIGHT Run community this year is more of all the great things in life. That includes more memory-making days, more time doing the things you love with the people who make you happy, more opportunities to try new things, and more moments to stop and reflect on how fortunate we are to be part of this exceptional BRIGHT Run community. Happy New Year!
Let’s do more, together!
