T hursday, Ainsley Sherlock and Maria Gaggiano’s senior project will kick off with the 5k on Turkey Day at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.

“We’re doing the 5k on Turkey Day, which is a community 5k on Thanksgiving where all participants can bring in 3 cans of food for race day, and all the donations go towards Love Chapel,” Sherlock said.

Sherlock, CNXC member, has a history with this event.

“It’s been a tradition through the girls’ cross country team, so it’s passed down through senior girls,” Sherlock said. “It’s gotten pretty big throughout my high school years.”

Gaggiano, however, is new to this tradition.

“This is my first year at North,” Gaggiano said. “I knew about the 5k because one of my good friends was one of the seniors who did it a couple of years back,” Gaggiano said. “But I have not participated in it, so this is my first time.”

The main purpose of a senior project is to impact both the student and the community.

“I think it has a big impact in the community because, having it be the 12th annual, a lot of people know about it,” Sherlock said. “It gets the community all together on Thanksgiving, and they get to donate to Love Chapel.”

Many of the participants are returning attendees, and the event has attracted around 300 people in previous years.

“Our goal is to raise $30,000, so the more people we get in, the more we raise,” Gaggiano said.

To help facilitate such an event, these seniors lean on Love Chapel executive director.

“Our mentor is Kelly Daughtery, and he’s actually an angel,” Gaggiano said. “He has helped us out so much; he takes the stress off the project.”

Gaggiano details the partnership she and Sherlock have with Love Chapel.

“Love Chapel is a main provider of resources that we’re using, through the website and even just the people that show up because they’re appreciative of what Love Chapel does in our community,” Gaggiano said. “It’s a way to give back to them.”

Many of Sherlock and Gaggiano’s teammates show support through volunteering and participating.

“A lot of families sign up; for a lot of people, if one person signs up in the family, the whole entire family signs up,” Sherlock said. “There’s a lot of high schoolers because of our cross country team.”

While there are similar Thanksgiving races around the country, the contribution to the community is what sets 5k on Turkey Day apart.

“I think it’s nice to be able to offer it to people and it’s really the only one that goes to a good cause,” Gaggiano said.

Love Chapel and these seniors offer multiple resources to register, donate, and volunteer.

“There’s a link, givebutter.com, but on the flyer, there’s a QR code and you just register from there,” Sherlock said.

Sherlock and Gaggiano recognize that the tradition behind the race has helped them.

“I think the tradition behind it is really cool and makes it a bigger deal. I was worried that there were gonna be a lot of steps we have to do, like reaching out to businesses for sponsorships,” Sherlock said. “Since it’s been going on for so long, it’s almost already set up for you and those businesses will automatically want to be a sponsor because they’ve done it before.”

Their main focus is to finalize the details in the time before Thanksgiving.

“It’s more of designing the t-shirts, promoting it, and getting in the days,” Sherlock said. “It kind of all falls into place.”