Beacon of Hope and a New 5K Race in Wellington
By Krista Martinelli
The Beacon of Hope 5k Run/Walk in memory of Kevin P. Enterlein will be held on Sunday, November 12th, 2017 at Tiger Shark Cove Park in Wellington. Registration is at 6:30am and the gun goes off (for runners and walkers) at 7:30am. Ultima Gym will do a pre-race warm-up. Mayor Anne Gerwig will give an opening speech for this community event, an event which raises funds for those battling cancer.
Andrea Enterlein, event organizer, emphasizes that this will be a community event encompassing more than just the 5K part of it. There will be face painting for the kids. Food and water has been donated by local restaurants. Starbucks has donated coffee. “Children are welcome, strollers are welcome, dogs are welcome,” says Enterlein. A cancer survivor will speak and welcome everyone to the race. Those who register will receive a t-shirt showing all of the sponsors of the race, as well as goody bags containing a colon cancer awareness bracelet and local coupons.
Beacon of Hope, a 501 (c3) organization, was originally started by Kevin Enterlein when he was three years into dealing with colon cancer. Since his passing, wife Andrea and kids Kevin Junior and Melissa have taken over the organization. All of the proceeds from the race go to the Cancer Alliance, a Palm Beach County not-for-profit organization. Cancer Alliance Helps underprivileged residents of Palm Beach County pay their non-medical bills, while dealing with cancer. It eases their burden and provides information resources.
“I’ve never done anything like this – it’s been very positive. The Wellington community has been amazing,” says Andrea Enterlein about putting on the race. The Enterlein family has lived in Wellington for 26 years. Her husband Kevin was a runner and was very serious about physical fitness. They chose the route beginning with Tiger Shark Cove Park because it’s a route that Kevin used to run as a part of his routine. The whole event is a tribute in memory of him.
“If Kevin were here, he’d be proud of our children and that we carried this out,” says Enterlein. She talks about his battle with cancer, which brought up a great deal of emotional turmoil. It was in remission, then the cancer came back, then in remission, then it came back again. Their family faced a lot of anxiety and had to deal with an “emotional rollercoaster.”
“I knew when he passed that I wanted people to give donations to Beacon of Hope in lieu of flowers.” After some time passed, Andrea and her kids put their heads together, coming up with this plan for the 5K race.
“The doctors don’t give out free samples of chemo,” says Enterlein. Beacon of Hope looks out for people who have to struggle financially, as well as emotionally. “The cause is going to benefit so many different people – we lived it, we struggled. And we had good insurance.” All kinds of things happen when cancer appears – people can’t work, so they go on disability. “The disease is devastating, including the financial piece of it,” says Enterlein.
How do you register for the race?
Just visit runsignupbeaconofhope.com Also, there’s a race day 6:30am registration, cash only. The Beacon of Hope Wellington race is currently $25, but that fee goes up to $35 on October 31st.
Sponsors include: Ben and Joanna Boynton Financial, Tom Neumann of Allstate, Wellington Regional Medical Center, Palms West Hospital, Palm Beach Urology, the Imaging Centers, Core Evolution, Designer’s Touch Jewelry, Minnie and Coal Productions and Schumacher-Infinity Palm Beach.
Vendors include Ultima Gym, Cryotherapy, Apicerno Chiropractor, Mary Kay, Palm Beach Plastic Surgery, Sole Escape Foot Massage, Cheeky Fitness, Florence Lewis Massage Therapist, Tropical Smoothie and Jamba Juice.
Andrea Enterlein has two children – Kevin, Jr. (25) and Melissa (23). The children were born and raised in Wellington. They attended Wellington Christian School and then public school. Kevin (Senior) worked at the Wellington Regional Medical Center in the business office. Then he became President of Aetna for Florida. He served in a variety of different health care positions. The Enterlein family is happy to be putting on this 5K race in his honor.