On Saturday, April 26, scores of runners and walkers gathered at the Clipper Pavilion in West Orange for The Arc of Essex County’s 27th Annual Building Tomorrows 5K Run and Family Walk. The event, which raised funds for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the greater Essex County area, also featured a Fun Fest with games and activities for all ages.
For the 5K race, the overall winners in the male division were Tristin DeVincenzo in first place with a time of 17:42, followed by Noah Jerris in second place with a time of 19:46, and Randy Arronis in third place with a time of 20:35. For the female division, the overall winners were Charlotte Sklow in first with a time of 21:54, Jacqueline Wolfstirn in second with a time of 22:33, and Jennifer Humphrey in third with a time of 22:52. The full list of results is available at RunOrWalk.org.
The race was followed by a family walk along the same path around the reservoir at the South Mountain Recreation Complex and included Arc supporters and participants in Arc programs. The walk is particularly focused on participant fundraising, and the top fundraising teams were “Team Smart Set,” “Team Augie Chiefs United,” and “BRC Walkers.” The top individual fundraiser was Nancy Fass.
The Fun Fest included a variety of family-friendly activities that were donated by vendors, including cupcake decorating with Chef It Up 2 Go, woodworking with the Home Depot, painting canvases from Indigo Art Studio, visiting with a princess and a pirate from My Fairytale Party, interacting with the bubbles from OMG Bubbles, contributing to a community art project with Pinot’s Palette, playing trivia with The Arc of Essex County’s HR team, enjoying food and drinks from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Orange Sky Coffee Roasters, and dancing along to the tunes from the Dancing DJs. Participants also enjoyed getting their faces painted and connecting with friends and family throughout the event.
The Arc thanks this year’s Student Champions, who range in grades from 6 to 12 throughout the greater Essex County area. The students, who applied and were selected for the leadership roles, helped fundraise, volunteered at the event, cheered on runners, led the walk, and in some cases participated in the run. This year also featured seven Student Champion mentors, who returned from 2024 to help guide this year’s group. Top Student Champion Fundraisers were Katherine Mori, Jenavieve Calabrese, and Augie Greenlee. The Arc of Essex County thanks all the Student Champions for their leadership and support.
Building Tomorrows would not have been possible without the support of presenting sponsor PSEG; gold sponsors Bogush Plumbing Heating and Cooling and the Hilb Group; silver sponsors AmTrust Financial, Bird Pharma Consulting, Irwin Siegel Agency, Manuel Juncal Landscaping, and NJM Insurance Group; and bronze sponsors Benefit Management Solutions, Nisivoccia, Petry Engineering LLC, Station MD, TD Bank, Titan Management Group, Wakefern, and Walsh Pizzi O’Reilly Falanga.
In addition to the Nothing Bundt Cakes and Orange Sky Coffee Roasters donations, Wakefern/ShopRite of Livingston, donated water and granola bars to the event, Wawa donated water bottles, and ShopRite of East Orange and Wegman’s each donated food for participants and volunteers. Prizes for fundraisers were donated by All-In Adventures, McLoone’s, Gourmet Gift Baskets, Guerriero’s Gelato, Six Flags, 5 Wits, and Towne Scoop.
The leadership of Essex County also provided support to Building Tomorrows via the event venue, reduced admission to local attractions for event participants, and through the volunteerism of recruits from the Essex County Police Academy. Dozens of police recruits helped set up the event, direct traffic, serve as on-course marshals, and help make sure the event ran smoothly for participants.
The Arc of Essex County thanks everyone who made the event possible, including sponsors, volunteers, donors, and, of course, the hundreds of participants who kept the event buzzing and the vibe cheerful and bright. The Arc also thanks special guests Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and The Arc of New Jersey Executive Director Tom Baffuto for supporting the event.
To learn more about the event, visit RunOrWalk.org and stay tuned for next year’s event details in the months ahead.