By Oli Herrera

FUNDRAISER RUN

Local firefighter running for 48 hours to raise money for community

May 3, 2021 | 5:57 PM

Aaron Brouwer prides himself in giving back to his community, serving as a firefighter for the last 15 years, and as an assistant coach for the UNBC Men’s basketball team for five years. Now, he’s taking on a new challenge: raising money by running for 48 hours.

“I wanted to find ways to give back to my community and try to tie it into that run, instead of trying toi challenge me, lets try to make it more.’ said Brouwer.

He’s going to do the 4x4x48 running challenge. Four miles, every four hours, all within 48 hours but with a twist. Four miles is about six-point-four kilometers. For every mile, he wants to raise $100 for a total of $4,800 for the community.

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“The goal is to find four individuals or families in Prince George and support them through this pandemic. This time of isolation, social distancing, on top of that support for local businesses by raising money to get credit from that business to help the family or individual in need.”

Each family or individual would get a $1,200 credit for one of the four businesses he’s selected. Each helping with what he calls ‘an important part of people’s lives’ such as a home and auto repairs, and having a meal every night.

“I try to find things that’ll make people’s lives a little bit easier.”

The run is set for June 29th and nominations to receive the $1,200 credit are open until May 31st. Donations to his gofundme page and nominations can be found on Brouwer’s website here.

“I’ve been blown away by the donations already, like donations have been open for a week, I’m already at $1,400 dollars. I’m already a quarter of the way there.

The firefighter says he’s been practicing by running four miles in under 40 minutes. Brouwer says it’s not about getting a personal best, it’s about what’s waiting for him at the finish line.

“I think probably around leg five or six where it’s like ‘okay it’s 2 a.m., in the middle of the night, I’m out here by myself. I’m like why am I doing this?’ Just having to focus like ‘hey, this is for a bigger cause than just me running.”

Brouwer says that he’s happy for a new mental and physical challenge, but it’s the positive impact to his community that he’s looking forward to the most.