On a bright Saturday morning, community members ran through the neighborhood as leadership class members tossed colored powder in their faces. At the finish line, they feasted on pizza, pasta and bagels. By the time they got home, the seats of their cars were blanketed with a layer of powdered paint.

May 20 marked Whitman’s first ever Color Rush to benefit local homeless shelters. Whitman also hosted other charity runs this spring, including Hope for Henry’s Mother’s Day 5K.

SGA president Pablo Rothschild and sophomore Danielle Hazan ran the committee that hosted the Color Rush. The run concluded Whitman’s Help the Homeless Week, and proceeds from the run supported local homeless shelters.

Rothschild said the event was successful both in raising money and providing a fun event for students.

“After the event, you see that all the hard work went to a great cause and made your peers happy,” Rothschild said.

The course was similar to Whitman’s previous Red Rush 5K, which guided participants around the local neighborhood. This year’s race maintains the trend of many different color runs held around the country, such as The Color Run, Color Vibe and Color Me Rad.

Color Rush drew over 150 participants, which impressed the leadership class and seven-member Color Rush committee, Hazan said.

“We were really happy with all the people,” Hazan said. “Everyone seemed like they were having a lot of fun.”

However, planning a large event like the Color Rush was difficult. Finding people to volunteer was challenging, and the committee had to start figuring out details in December in order to prepare for the race, Hazan said.

“I made the outline and checklist for the Color Rush before winter break,” Rothschild said. “I then started actively planning it and getting a race permit in January.”

Pyle parent Ali Bartleman, who ran the race, appreciated students and volunteers’ energy throughout the course.

“They had lots of people along the way telling us where to go, which was very helpful,” Bartleman said. “They were all very enthusiastic, cheering us on and letting us know we had a mile to go and all that.”

Committee members said they are hopeful that they will host a race similar to Color Rush again next year, although its future as a Whitman tradition is uncertain.

“I cannot promise we will hold it again,” Rothschild said. “But hopefully we do because it seems like people had a good time and there is room for improvement and enlargement.”

Just one week before the Color Rush, Whitman also hosted the annual Mother’s Day 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run for Hope for Henry, an organization that works to help child patients and their families with cancer.

“My younger sister goes to Sinai Hospital for treatment,” top Fun Run finisher Maddie Brown said. “Hope for Henry has been very good to us.”

There are many organizations that host races in the community year‒round to support a variety of causes, but bringing the community together and putting a smile on someone’s face is what makes the planning worth it, Hazan said.

“It was fairly difficult to put together,” Hazan said. “But all the hard work definitely paid off in the end.”