The achievements of running are often personal. The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon has celebrated the personal accomplishments of over 120,000 finishers in the last 16 years, but these individual successes are just the beginning. The charitable impact is felt long after race day comes to a close, and the entire community can take pride in the collective milestone the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon has reached for its charity partners.
The 2015 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon generated $150,000 for its charity partners Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Wisconsin, Golden House and ASPIRO, bringing the grand total donated to local charities to $1,066,000 over the last 16 years.
“We are beyond excited in reaching this significant milestone. The Greater Green Bay area is lucky to have such a strong network of non-profit organizations that make our communities better with the work they do. A million dollars from our event has gone a long way to help them make a difference,” said Brighid Riordan, board president of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. “The marathon’s goal has always been to have a positive impact on the community. The influence is definitely felt on race weekend, but how the event improves this community after the event each year has always been equally important. Reaching the million-dollar milestone means we are doing our job, enabling our charity partners to do theirs.”
A total of 17 charities have partnered with the event over its history, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Wisconsin, who is concluding its three-year partnership with the marathon this year.
“Funds from the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon have helped us serve more children. In a time when mentorship as a whole has seen a decline, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin was ranked number 1 in the Midwest for growth and number 5 overall in the nation,” said Kristen Mihaljevic, community relations director of Big Brothers Big Sisters. “Beyond the fiscal impact, we have made new friends in the community and these relationships are priceless.”
The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon is currently accepting applications for its 18th charity partner for the 2016-18 seasons. Criteria and the link to the online application can be found on the marathon website.
The 12th annual Mary Poppele Award, given to the top fundraiser in the marathon’s Run for a Reason program, was presented to Tony Pichler. He raised $990 for this year’s charity partners. The award is given in memory of Mary Poppele, an avid fundraiser, who passed away in April 2004 while training for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon.