Taking it to the Next Level with the 24 Hour Challenge

By: Kelly Maurer, Training Program Director

You want to do what? Host a 24 Hour Run at Charm City Run Annapolis around the Town Center?  Why would we do that? 

Yes, that is what we heard three years ago when we came up with this idea to do something different for National Running Day. In the past we had asked our staff to join us in our 24 Hour Treadmill Challenge (sometimes known as a dreadmill) all the while looking out the windows at York Road. Sound run? Not so much but it was a successful fundraiser but why not change it up a bit?

In 2018 we took the challenge to the next level, we decided to do a 24 Hour Challenge at our Annapolis location and invite our staff and our running community to run a one mile loop around the Annapolis Town Centre for 24 Hours. Yes that sounded crazy too but why not give it a try.  Well we did it and it was a great success so we are back for another year!

The opiod addiction epidemic is an epidemic that touches everyone – our families, our friends – regardless of our socio – economic status, age, race or gender. It is a crisis that permeates every neighborhood in our county. 

Through generous contributions over the last five years since Danny’s passing and the Charm City 24 Challenge, Danny’s Fund has provided financial assistance to the following:

•  AA County Department of Health to help those in safe houses. Anne Arundel county has been on the cutting edge in providing a “no questions asked” policy to for those seeking help at fire or police stations.  The funding has helped to offset the costs associated with very basic needs for individuals who are often coming with little more than the clothes on their backs and a desire for help and recovery.

• Anne Arundel Medical Center to provide; 1) overdose response kit funding, to families of those at risk of overdose after being discharged from the Emergency Room (and Fed funding is not providing coverage), 2) Family Wellness Workshops – to provide financial assistance for Mental Health/Addiction counselors, education and resources to families, 3) Pathways Medically Assisted Treatment program (MAT) has been proven to help; alleviate symptoms of withdrawal, reduce cravings for opioids, reduce illicit opioid use, block the effects of other opioids and lead to long-term recovery.

• Serenity Sistas – to provide the recovering addict and alcoholic with a healthy, safe and clean environment to reenter life, giving the support and structure of a sober environment, allowing the newly recovering addict a safe haven.

• The Well – is a community of women committed to transforming the lives of at-risk women, of which addiction is prevalent, through long-term relationships, practical programs and the healing power of God’s love. There is also a social enterprise component to The Well; “Hon’s Honey”, which provides employment opportunities for women in the program.

• Chrysallis House – provides substance use and mental health treatment services for women 18 years of age and older, while allowing their children to live onsite during their mother’s program of recovery.

• The Way Homes – in answer to an emergency resident fee and transportation request, to rebuild and recover, surrounded by a community that encourages them in their sobriety and their faith.

• Helping Up Mission – a comprehensive recovery program addressing root issues of substance abuse and poverty, helping men and women of Baltimore and Anne Arundel County to fight addiction and homelessness and to get their lives back.

• Shatterproof – to shatter the deadly stigma of addiction, federal and state advocacy to support key initiatives, which will have a big impact on preventing overdose deaths and promoting long-term recovery, to improve the delivery of evidence-based care.