VININGS — RaceTrac's Allison Moran will be participating in the Vinings-based gasoline and convenience store company's Run for Research 5K and Fun Run this weekend to support The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
As senior vice president of the RaceTrac division, Moran will not only be fulfilling a commitment to her employer, but she will also be supporting a cause that is very dear to her heart. Her grandfather, RaceTrac's founder, and her father, company CEO, have both suffered from Parkinson's disease.
"Parkinson's touches RaceTrac very directly," she said.
"But what we learned once we started really establishing a relationship with the Fox Foundation, and did a fundraiser within our RaceTrac community on behalf of the Fox Foundation, is how many people not only within our family of employees but also the guests we serve, who are touched by Parkinson's."
RaceTrac's Run for Research begins at 8 a.m. Saturday in Vinings.
Check-in is from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. at the RaceTrac Store Support Center, 3225 Cumberland Blvd. Registration is $30, cash or check. Participants can register on race day or online at register.runnersfit.com. Parking is free at the store support center parking deck.
Children 15 and younger may participate free in the 1K Fun Run, which begins at 7:45 a.m.
All proceeds, including 100 percent of registration fees, will go directly to fund the MJFF's research to help find a cure for Parkinson's disease, according to the company.
RaceTrac will also mark Parkinson's Awareness Month (April) through its "Coffee for a Cause" promotion, with proceeds from all coffee and specially marked World's Finest Chocolate bars, sold April 1 through 7 at stores, to be donated to the MJFF. Customers will also have the chance to donate at the counter or online throughout the entire month.
RaceTrac aims to raise a total of $250,000 or more for the MJFF, one of the world's largest private funders of Parkinson's research.
In 2011, RaceTrac held a first-time employee only 5K run but decided to open it up to the public this year to widen support.
"We really wanted to get more money to be donated to the Fox Foundation," said company spokeswoman Terrica Oglesby, event co-organizer with colleague, Alison Umbarger.
"Normally, we do community giving and partnership efforts just with the areas that are around our stores, so we're very locally focused with our giving. But Parkinson's is actually our only national charity. A number of our team members and employees have been affected by Parkinson's."
In 1934, RaceTrac was founded when Carl Bolch Sr. opened a chain of independent gas stations in St. Louis. His son, current CEO Carl Bolch Jr., joined the company in 1967, after graduating from law school. In 1976, the company moved to the Atlanta area and changed its name to RaceTrac in 1979.
With more than 5,000 employees in five southeastern states, the family-run business is one of Georgia's largest private companies.
Moran said her 69-year-old father remains active in the company's operations, despite living with Parkinson's disease, a central nervous system disorder characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity and a jerky gait. Approximately one million Americans are affected by the disease, according to the National Parkinson Foundation. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's.
"In terms of how it has impacted him with the business, very little," said Moran, who works at the company alongside two siblings, who'll all be participating in Saturday's run.
"He is very pro-active in taking care of himself. They've learned so much about Parkinson's since my grandfather had it. They recognize living a very active and healthy lifestyle helps prolong the progression of the disease. He is living an extremely active lifestyle."
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