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The Rook Run has given life to Rook Coffee founders Holly Migliaccio and Shawn Kingsley's vision of supporting children and their families from the Monmouth County area at a most vulnerable time. This extraordinary event has raised close to half a million dollars to date! This year, on a spectacular September morning, 3,000 participants came together for the 3rd Annual Rook Run lining the Long Branch boardwalk as far as the eye could see and by day's end raising more than $213,000. 

Just blocks away, proceeds from the Rook Run have a direct impact on funding the Palliative Care program at The Valerie Fund Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Monmouth Medical Center. This program provides patients with an extra layer of support to alleviate symptoms and allows for medical decisions based on children and their families living their lives to the fullest. Each member of the Center's interdisciplinary team---doctors and nurses, social workers, child life specialists, psychologists, art therapists and specialists in integrative medicine has a role in managing patients' pain, stress, and anxiety that results while battling life-threatening illnesses.

The proximity of a Valerie Fund Center to the ten Rook Coffee locations in Monmouth County and the customers they serve nurtured the partnership and the owners continue to be "super positive" about the collaboration. Amazed by the remarkable growth of the run over the last three years, Migliaccio shares, "we are overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received from the community. We couldn't be more proud of what we have accomplished so far."

During the post-race awards ceremony, Valerie Fund patient Samantha represented the 5,000 patients treated at one of seven Valerie Fund Centers each year. She spoke about enduring intense periods of treatment over the course of four years following a diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 8 years old. She is now 15 and cancer free and says, "Because of my wonderful doctors and their efforts, I have been able to continue growing as a person, a daughter, a sister, a friend, as a student and a teammate. I also got to finish my first year of high school, become a cheerleader, go to prom and best of all, I am able to say that I am a survivor and I kicked cancer's butt."

This year World Subaru was our exclusive Presenting Sponsor and we cannot thank them enough! We also want to thank sponsors Ocean First Bank and First Atlantic. In addition to Rook Coffee which enjoys a near cult-like following of their specialty and cold brewed coffees, refreshments were donated by jonesbar, Dean's Natural Food Market, Whole Foods Market, Jersey Mike's Subs and Delicious Orchards. Please visit www.rookrun.com for more information and to view photos from the event.