On Saturday, February 27, Unity Village will host the Second Annual Drumm Run to benefit the children of Drumm Farm. The 5K and 10K courses meander through the beautiful grounds of Unity Village, taking participants through the picturesque golf course and peaceful lake trails.

Located in Independence, Mo., Drumm Farm was originally founded in 1929 as a home and working farm for the care, education and protection of orphan and indigent boys. It is now a group foster home providing a safe, stable long-term residence for children whose parents are not able to care for them. One of the major focuses at Drumm Farm is keeping siblings together.



Unity Village and Drumm Farm

The connection between Unity Village and Drumm Farm began through Patrick Perry. Perry is CEO of Genesys, a material-handling systems integrator that specializes in engineering and construction. Perry's home borders the Unity Village property and as an avid runner, he routinely enjoys the trails between the two properties. He thought it would be an ideal location to sponsor a charity event.

Perry had been looking for ways his company could give back to the community, and Drumm Farm has been a great fit. “(They) are very passionate about the kids and what they do. Something about (it) rang true for us,” he says.

Genesys' first Drumm Farm fundraiser in 2008 was a barbecue where his employees met and interacted with the kids and staff. The next year Perry decided to step it up a notch.

“I brought (Drumm's director of development) into my office and I said, ‘I'd like to be a race director,'” Perry recalls. “'I race all the time but I'd like a cause. I struggle with just writing checks and want to be more personally involved. I'd like to be the nucleus bringing these funds together and get my employees more involved.'”

The first run and walk at Unity Village in 2009 was an overwhelming success, raising $18,000. Perry credits part of that success to the Unity Village staff, who he says were very helpful, friendly and made the whole process easy.

Unity Village—The Perfect Setting for a Mind, Body, Spirit Connection

Making a connection, according to Perry, is deeper than bringing people together to support a cause. For Perry, it's about a spirit, mind and body connection with nature.

“I'm not a religious person,” he says. “I consider myself very spiritual though. In fact I have moments when I'm in the woods where I feel something. I don't know what it is, (but) I feel some sort of earthy, primal connection.”

Perry encourages his staff to find this same connection. Several years ago he challenged two employees to join him in a marathon—a first for all three. “Because they are both older than me and beat me, I never stopped running,” he jokes.

The next year, Perry offered a companywide wellness challenge for a trail marathon—up and down ridges, over fallen trees and across streams—through the Mark Twain National Forest near St. Louis, Mo. He promised to pay all registration fees for employees who participated. Twenty-one participants, all novice runners, finished the race, including a 62-year-old diabetic, two overweight individuals in their 50s and a former open heart surgery patient who had broken his back twice.

“When we finished, I went to each of them individually and said, ‘If you got something out of that (race): self-esteem, fitness, weight loss, a sense that you can do anything, then recruit one more (person),'” he notes. The next year there were 42 marathon finishers. Five of these runners have now advanced to 50-mile runs.

For Perry, fitness relates to spiritual wholeness. “There is a level of (spiritual) well-being that I never reached until I was really fit and working hard. It's one of the reasons I promote (running) so much,” he says. “Some of my best, deepest friendships have developed (through) helping people train for marathons. We come out of it with a much deeper relationship. Before (running together) they were employees and I was the boss. When we're in the woods … the boss is not there.”

Perry says the Drumm Farm 5K/10K is for anyone. “I would argue that almost anybody can do three miles, even if you have to walk (or) take breaks. I just want to see people experience it and bring my company a little bit closer while doing something worthwhile to help the kids at Drumm Farm.”

Unity Village employees, congregants and local community members are encouraged to participate along with the GENESYS employees and Drumm Farm kids in the 2010 run.
 

To learn more about Drumm Farm, click here.

To register for the Drumm Farm 5K/10K Run, contact Kate Schwaller: kate@drummfarm.org

For more information about Genesys, visit their Web site: www.genesyscorp.net.