Join Team Flanagan at the 2013 Fairfield 5K & Half Marathon

A familiar group in green will be featured at this year's Fairfield 5K and Half Marathon -- Team Flanagan is running for the fifth year in a row.

Members of the team run in memory of John Flanagan, a lifelong Fairfield resident, father of three, and cofounder of the communications company ICR. Flanagan died in 2008 of a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 44.

This upcoming 5K and half marathon weekend marks the annual flagship fundraising event for the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation (JPFF), founded by Flanagan's widow, Amanda. 

"John’s family, friends and colleagues wanted to establish a charitable legacy that supported what truly mattered to him: children and family," Kellie Baldyga of ICR said on behalf of the foundation, which formed in 2009.

JPFF's mission is "to help vulnerable children and families by supporting charities that provide the direction, education and healthy environment that vulnerable children and families need to have the opportunity to reach their full potential," according to the foundation's website.

Members of the community are encouraged to join the team in walking or running in one of the races -- there are still spots left in both races.

To join the team, you can: 

• Sign up using the team website;
• Or using the race website (as of Friday, June 14, there were 300 spots left for the half-marathon, and half of the spots for the 5K race were still available. Registration closed Friday, June 21, at 2 p.m.)

Those interested in donating, but not racing, can find directions for sending funds to the foundation here.  

JPFF beneficiaries include Connecticut Audubon Society’s Trailblazers program, which brings 600 Bridgeport public school children to the Fairfield nature center for a nature science curriculum.

The foundation has also supported these other organizations.:

• JPFF provided funding for Lawyers for Children America to train attorneys who will represent abused and neglected children, pro bono, in Fairfield County;
• High School Scholarship Foundation of Fairfield: scholarships in the amount of $1,000 are awarded through the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation Memorial at Fairfield High School to assist a boy or girl with economic need graduating from Fairfield Warde High School;
• A grant to the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation to purchase toys for the John Flanagan Memorial Children’s Corner at the Norma Pfriem Cancer Center at Bridgeport Hospital;
• Bridgeport Youth Lacrosse;
• The Evergreen Network, which helps kids affected by HIV and AIDS;
• Caroline House, which helps immigrant women and children with English and life skills training as they integrate into US community;
• United in Hope Scholarship, given to children who have lost a parent to cancer.