Runners Participate in Annual 5K To Raise Money For HOPE Scholarship for Undocumented Students
Fotos por Ankur Singh
By Ankur Singh
June 30th was a hot Sunday morning where over 100 runners gathered on the starting line at the track of Morton West High School. The group was mostly Cicero and Berwyn residents made up of young adults, families, and children.
The whistle blew, and the runners took off, thus starting the annual Hope Scholarship 5K, an event to raise money for a scholarship for undocumented students to attend Morton College.
According to an analysis done in 2010, approximately 18,000 undocumented immigrants live in Cicero, none of whom are eligible to receive federal financial aid.
This makes attending college and university difficult. The United We Dream network estimates that only 5 to 10 percent of undocumented high school graduates go on to college.
Mara Galeno, a recent Morton College graduate and one of the organizers of the event, knows how difficult it can be for undocumented students to pay for college.
Galeno moved to Cicero undocumented with her family when she was one and a half years old from Veracruz, Mexico. She worked under the table jobs to pay for her education, earning just seven dollars an hour. Her mother worked for four dollars an hour.
“Every single penny that we raised, I would always deposit it into my bank account, and I would make the payment right away for the tuition,” Galeno said.
She took very few classes to make that happen, which is why it took her three years to graduate with her Associates degree. She eventually received several scholarships and in May 2018 received DACA, which finally allowed her to work. Galeno is now transferring to Northeastern Illinois University, where she received a full-ride scholarship and will be majoring in Communications.
It’s for students like Galeno that the HOPE scholarship exists, which raised over $7,000 from participants and sponsors during the 5K.
“Today was an overall success. I really really enjoyed today,” said Jesus Javier Ruan, the 2018-2019 Morton College Student Trustee and organizer of the 5K.
Since its inception, the HOPE scholarship 5K has traditionally been the responsibility of the student trustee to organize.
Alejandra Murillo was the student trustee in 2013 and came up with the initial idea. “My idea was what's one major large scale event that we could have that would get us a large sum of money with just one hit, instead of doing several small fundraisers throughout the year?” Murillo said.
She also wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage people to exercise in Cicero.
“The first year was horrible,” Murillo recalled.
There was no nearby parking or bathrooms available. It even snowed. She’s happy to see the event continues to improve, grow, and has now become an annual tradition.
To see so many people participate in the fundraiser, “makes my heart very warm,” Galeno said. “I'm very proud to be in a community like this, because it shows that there's love for people like me.
As they finished the race, runners relaxed with cold water and horchata provided afterwards. Many will be running again next year.
“I hope it [the scholarship run] keeps going on forever and ever,” Ruan said with a smile.
