Deer Lakes turkey trot raises money for cystic fibrosis research

Rebecca Dick figured she’d work off some calories before consuming more by taking part in the Deer Lakes Turkey Trot with her father, Robert.

“He likes to run, and I like to eat a lot on Thanksgiving,” Dick, of West Deer, said Thursday morning after stretching outside of Deer Lakes Stadium.

They were also running for a good cause, and were among more than 100 people who took part in the run that raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of three girls in the community living with the disease — Amelia Dunbar, 8, her sister, Penelope Dunbar, 4, and Natalie Soxman, 6.

“It’s amazing,” said Kim Dunbar, Amelia and Penelope’s mother. “We’re always very thankful people are willing to do things and help raise money. We feel very fortunate to be in this community.”

According to the foundation, cystic fibrosisis a progressive, genetic disease. Mutations in a gene cause mucus in various organs to become thick and sticky. It results in persistent lung infections and limited ability to breathe; impacts on the body’s ability to absorb food and nutrients resulting in malnutrition and poor growth; and liver disease.

In the U.S., more than 30,000 people have cystic fibrosis, with the worldwide total at more than 70,000.

Amelia is in Tracy Fletcher’s third-grade class at East Union Intermediate Center. She and her friend, Jenn Rodgers, organized the trot, which they previously held in 2016 and 2017.

Beginning at the stadium by Deer Lakes High School, the event had people running or walking to the middle school and the Magill Plan before coming back and finishing on the track at the stadium.

Participants paid a $25 registration fee. Rodgers and Fletcher said they expect the trot to raise about $2,000, all of which will go to the foundation.

“I was really inspired by (Amelia) and the struggles she has with cystic fibrosis,” Fletcher said. “I wanted to do something to help.”

Soxman’s aunt, Sherry Soxman, said she was going to try to run the trot with her niece. She didn’t know what cystic fibrosis was before Natalie was born.

“Now it’s become a part of our lives,” said Soxman, also a third-grade teacher in Deer Lakes.

“It’s such a rare disease that only 70,000 people worldwide have it and we have three little girls, three beautiful little girls in our district that are fighting this disease,” she said. “I want to thank all the Deer Lakes families for coming out and supporting us, because most of the money that’s raised through Cystic Fibrosis Foundation actually goes to research and our hope is one day that they find a cure.”

Fletcher said she’d like to keep the run going each Thanksgiving, choosing a new member of the community to benefit each year.