We all have our heroes, and the District 95 Educational Foundation is giving a chance for the community to acknowledge personal heroes.

Typically, the Foundation would be planning for their annual Gala fundraiser benefitting additional resources and innovations for District 95. Adjusting to current circumstances, this time around the Foundation has organized the Superhero Shuffle, a virtual 5k race that will take place between March 13-27.

“We thought of the Superhero Shuffle because in these really challenging times we’ve all come across different superheroes in our lives. It doesn’t have to be who you typically think of because nowadays superheroes are teachers, doctors, healthcare workers, frontline workers, your postal carrier, or it could be the checkout clerk at the grocery store,” Erica Chianelli, Executive Director, said. “There are so many superheroes that we want to recognize by having this event this year, so we’re encouraging people to use this as their way to honor the various superheroes they might have in their life ”

The event will be a virtual 5k, meaning that participants will have the entire two weeks to complete their mileage and log it into the website, according to Rinna Kim, senior and Foundation intern. People are encouraged to recruit their friends, colleagues, and teammates to join their “team” and participate. Participants will record their times on their own and upload them to the race website.

“The cool thing about this virtual 5k is that people can run or walk anywhere, even inside on a treadmill, and anytime within the two weeks,” Kim said.

After such a whirlwind of a year, the Foundation wants to make sure that heroes within the community are acknowledged, Chianelli said. Participants and non-participants can go to the race website and donate on behalf of a participant or in honor of their hero and directly thank.

It was important for the foundation to find a way to raise funds after the cancellation of the Gala, the foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year, which helps fund many enriching events throughout the year, according to Chianelli.

“We fund a variety of initiatives that go on district-wide like the Film Festival that just happened, or the Science Fair or the Steam Summit, or Author in Residence,” Chianelli said. “They also just gave approval for funding of x-tier access points at all buildings so that they will have outdoor internet access, so funds raised will definitely support all District 95 learners in a variety of ways.”

Priority sign-ups for the event will end February 25 where all participants will receive a free event t-shirt, but people will still be able to sign up through March 12 on the event website. Registration is $20 per runner and people are encouraged to sign up with teams, clubs, friends, and colleagues, according to the Foundation.

“I can’t wait to see the community come together for the event and support such a great cause,” Kim said. “It has been difficult for us to do things in a normal capacity due to the reality of the world right now, so I think it’ll be very encouraging to see a lot of community members participating.”