Two Communities, One Common Goal - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CD-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings

Two Communities, One Common Goal

Two different communities hosting similar events share one common goal; raising awareness and money for two separate illnesses.

About 90 runners gathered at Kearney's Yanney Park Saturday morning braving the cold weather for the Fearless 5k run.

This new event, put on by the Kearney Jaycees raises money to help patients at Kearney's Cancer Center receive basic needs that they may not be able to get themselves.

"People in the community have cancer, unfortunately it's everywhere," said Fearless 5k Co-organizer Stacy Henning. "The Kearney Tackles Cancer group focuses on people here locally and filter the money back through helping people paying for treatments, travel for their treatments and stuff like that."

Over in Bertrand, community members were heading indoors to take the next step to fight type one diabetes.

Bertrand's school system only has 250 students; five of whom have the disease, and another five to ten community members have it as well.

These numbers are the motivating factors to spread the awareness in town.

"A lot of students, a lot of adults don't understand what diabetes is, how to support people with diabetes," said Bertrand School Counselor Kim Johnson. "And so that's another thing that we try to raise the awareness for the community of Bertrand as well as for our school and students."

Portions of the Fearless 5k will go towards the Kearney Tackles Cancer group, and approximately $1,800 raised in Bertrand will help with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

REPORTER'S NOTES: Bertrand's fundraising efforts of approximately $1,800 during the October 27 Diabetes Walk, combined with previous T-shirt sales from September's "gray out" volleyball game against Axtell in which both communities participated, has garnered nearly $4,000 to help the fight against type one diabetes.