12 MARCH 2020 This year, the Arcadia Food For Kidz Packathon will be held on March 21. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church started the Packathon in 2015 as a way for the Arcadia community to help alleviate hunger, said Packathon Chairperson Stephen Crofton. “Over the last six years, the Packathon has proven to be essential, not only in providing necessary assistance to the hungry right here in our neighborhood, but also in building a wonderful sense of community within Arcadia,” said Committee Member Heidi Staudenmaier. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church serves as the focal point for the Packathon, but other neighborhood churches, service, scout and school groups come together for the event. “It’s a popular event because it is open to everyone from age 3 on up. Volunteers can work individually or as part of a family or other group. The time commitment is less than two hours, and the volunteers have fun while working for a very good cause,” Crofton said. For more or to sign up: popphoenix.org. 6th annual Food for Kidz Packathon coming March 21 On Sunday, April 5, Arcadians will wake up, toss on their running shoes and head to 48th Street along the canal to participate in the 9th Annual Team Taylor Arcadia Fun Run. Ten years ago, Mark and Katie Cosmas lost their daughter Taylor to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Looking for a way to honor her, they came up with Team Taylor in 2013 as a way to raise awareness and support for SIDS research. In 2019, a total of $220,000 was raised by Team Taylor. This year, they hope to have 1,200 runners/walkers and raise $250,000 for SIDS. “We had a major milestone in November at an event we held to celebrate what would have been Taylor’s 10th birthday. We hit $1 million raised in the nine years that we’ve been doing Team Taylor,” Katie said. “We are also developing new projects in Arizona for grief support and research under our Three Butterflies foundation.” Team Taylor was also recently honored by Boston Children’s Hospital with the Outstanding Philanthropist Award for 2019 for research education and prevention. “Only in our wildest dreams did we think that this race would become such a staple in people’s event calendars. But most importantly, it’s become a place for other families like us that have lost a baby to SIDS to come and remember their child taken much too soon,” Katie said. Team Taylor gears up for run HOW TO REGISTER WHO: Everyone! Come run, walk, scooter or bike. Bring your four-legged friends too. WHAT: The 9th Annual Team Taylor Fun Run. WHERE: Starts and ends at 48th St. and the canal. There will be an after-party at OHSO. WHEN: April 5, 8 a.m. start time. Register at TeamTaylorAZ.com. Registration is $45 until March 30 and $50 the week of the race. NUMBER OF MEALS PACKED: 2015: 62,708 2016: 73,296 2017: 91,762 2018: 129,168 2019: 122,046 5-year total: 478,980 The number of volunteers has grown to more than 500 in 2019. Each volunteer helps run a station at the packathon. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIDI STAUDENMAIER