Running to make a difference

GONZALES — Keith Schreiter and his Texas Independence Relay team “Danger Zone” donated a large helping of food items to Gonzales Christian Assistance Ministries (GCAM) during this year’s visit to Gonzales.

“Danger Zone” was one of 174 teams represented at TIR. They all come from the same running club in Houston, the Bay Area Running Club, a nonprofit. Most of them are or have been a member of the Board of Directors or club officer and are always looking as a club and as a team to give back.

Normally when they give to local food banks via all of their social gatherings they ask for pantry items or canned goods. This time they wanted to do something different and give people meals that were easy to prepare.

“Not everybody knows how to cook and a lot of times they don’t have time to cook,” Schreiter said. “Plus sometimes one or two parents work two jobs so kids need an easy way to prepare food too.”

Some of the economy in Texas is run by oil prices, especially Gonzales. It can create a domino effect in the local economy. When prices dip, less jobs are created, less hotel rooms are rented, people are not going out to eat as much, people aren’t spending as much money on entertainment, which affects the people working at those jobs. So if one industry suffers in an area everybody is somehow affected.

“The Texas Independence Relay brings an economy boom,” Schreiter said. “The grocery stores, the convenience stores, the restaurants, the hotels all see a boost in sales. But it’s only once a year. After the race and racers pack up, it’s business is normal. Whether it’s a new family starting out and looking for jobs or people waiting to get jobs when oil prices rise we would like to help out for those in need.”

Schreiter’s team consists of 12 runners and a few members of support wanted to start this positive movement.

“It was really easy to convince the team this was a positive and extremely easy thing to do. Since we live in Houston, our expenses for the trip are low, about $400 per person including registration, van rental, gas, food and other expenses. I simply picked $10 as an estimate per person for us to spend. It was really a no-brainer $10 is a small amount compared to what we pay for this race. Everybody was all in.” he said.

Schreiter called GCAM to see their opening hours or if they could drop it off somewhere locally. “They were super helpful and met us after hours to accommodate our busy schedule,” Schreiter said.

“Our team wanted to show the city, the race directors, and most importantly other teams that a small amount of money can make a big difference if we all donated,” he added.

Schreiter said that instead of bringing food from Houston, they also wanted to add to the economy locally. So they went to the local Gonzales HEB and filled up a few shopping carts to purchase the donation. They were able to purchase 220 meals as a team effort.

For Schreiter and the rest of “Danger Zone,” this relationship with GCAM is really just beginning.

“Our team will continue but it’s only the start, we’re only one team. Our running club has connections with at least 15 teams and we want to show them how simple and easy it is to make a big difference. For example what if everybody just donated $10, 15 teams of 12 people would be $1800 of buying power to donate food. But if we get the word out there I would like to get at least half the teams to do the same. So 87 teams of 12 people would represent over $10,000 in donations all by simply asking an extra $10 a person. If we can reach all the teams that’s an extra $20,000 that is brought to the local economy and most importantly in food donations,” Schreiter said.

Schreiter believes that when you do any sort of charity involvement you get a personal satisfaction about yourself.

“I was also lucky enough to have my daughter help out too as they came to Gonzales for the night,” he said. “I believe you need to get kids involved in as many positive activities as possible. Also when our team came together to help out it creates an even tighter team atmosphere. Knowing that you can inspire others is even a bigger satisfaction.

“Just filling up the shopping carts at HEB and talking with the cashier about what our team is doing you know you’ve represented out-of-town racers in a positive way. Plus it spurs more ideas, what if we could partner with businesses to help match our donations or are there other products that GCAM needs that we can provide. The possibilities are endless.”