The office of the state treasurer is holding a 5k to raise money for foster children's college funds.
The SMART5.29K run/walk is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, May 20, in Charleston. Sponsorships and race fees go toward providing adoptive families with funds to start their children's SMART529 college savings accounts.
Mission West Virginia and its adoption placement arm, Frameworks, selects families to receive the funds through an application process. Twelve children received $1,200 to start savings accounts last year. The recipients and their families will be honored at a ceremony at the Clay Center in the fall.
"Obviously, we have great challenges in helping foster students achieve some sense of life normalcy," State Treasurer John Perdue said in a release, "but I think it is a quest worth taking on. As a society we are only as strong as our most vulnerable members. These children have done nothing wrong to deserve such a hard way to go."
To register for the race, visit the state treasurer's website for the event.