Upcoming 5K honors missing, murdered indigenous people
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PABLO — Organizations, both local and nationwide, have come together to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) and their families by holding the “Step By Step … We Remember” 5K out of the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo on May 6.
Held in conjunction with National Day of Awareness for MMIP, the 5K is part of the nationwide “Running for Justice” initiative of virtual and in-person runs held by Rising Hearts – an indigenous led grassroots organization that provides a platform for indigenous voices and promotes cross agency collaboration efforts toward social, racial, economic, and climate justice.
“It really was an initiative on behalf of Providence Medical Center in Polson. They have some community partners that we work with in the department … kind of brought it to our attention,” Journey to Wellness Project Director Ashlynn Marasco explained. “We thought that would be a really great opportunity to provide an in-person 5K. We currently don’t have one in the state of Montana that’s hosted in partnership with Rising Heart, so it was a really great opportunity for our community partners to come together and make that happen.”
Currently, those co-hosting the event include Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, the Journey to Wellness, Salish Kootenai College, SAFE Harbor, SKC Center for Prevention and Wellness, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Anderson Broadcasting.
“Everybody jumped on board pretty quick, so things happened really fast,” Marasco commented. “We wouldn’t have been able to make it happen without so much partnership throughout the community, so that was really important for us to recognize and we’re really glad that we’re able to come together and make it happen.”
The day of the event will start out with a welcome, prayer, and honor song for the CSKT at 10 a.m., followed by testimonials from those personally impacted by MMIP. The race itself will begin at 10:30 a.m. on a paved route around the campus that can accommodate anyone interested in participating. Participants are encouraged to wear red in solidarity.
Additionally, there will be a variety of local and neighboring organizations onsite to answer any questions and help educate the community about resources available pertaining to MMIP. Those organizations include: the Montana State Task Force, CSKT MMIP work group, CSKT Tribal Law Enforcement, Sovereign Bodies Institute, and All Nations Health Center. There will be coffee and food trucks available throughout the day.
As a community event, registration is not required to participate in the race. Those who are interested in registering can do so in the morning prior to the event, the proceeds of which will go to the CSKT’s Victim Services Assistance Fund – created to help support families with costs related to search efforts. Online registration and volunteer signup is also available. Online proceeds will go to the Rising Hearts Fund. Donations are also welcome.
“Even if you’re not able to donate at least come and check out some resources and maybe gain some knowledge behind any of the organizations that maybe you didn’t know and maybe you could pass along to another family or friend who may be affected by MMIP,” Marasco said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can do so by clicking the image of the tipi on journeytomentalwellness.org. Additional information is also available on the website or with Rising Hearts at risinghearts.org.
“I think it’s really important to bring awareness to our community partners and the efforts that they’ve made in coming together. This is one event we hope we can make an annual community event for Montana supporters and organizations of MMIP to help grow awareness and promote education and community resiliency when it comes to MMIP,” Marasco stated. “I’d like to thank our partners and all of our collaborators near and far who come together and make this possible.”
