The sixth annual Mary E. Smith Brain Tumor Awareness Fun Run/Walk will be held Saturday to raise brain tumor awareness and to fund research and scholarship programs.
Tiffany Woodson, founder and president of the Mary E. Smith Foundation, said her mother, former Country Club Hills resident Mary E. Smith, died in 2003 at the age of 49 of an undiagnosed brain tumor.
“As a family, it was unexpected and we wanted to do something to really shed light on this condition and also to honor her memory,” Woodson said.
Woodson’s husband, Tabari, is a foundation board member, and Woodson’s three siblings — Tyrone Smith, of Park Forest; DaMarco Smith, of Cincinnati; and Laronda Smith, of Las Vegas — have “supportive volunteer roles” with the foundation, she said.
The event starts at 9 a.m. at the Country Club Hills Concert Theater Community Walk Path, 4200 W. 183rd St. Registration begins at 7:45 a.m.
The event includes free raffles, free school supplies and a free Zumba class. Giordano’s of Matteson will provide catering for participants.
Woodson said a kids’ activity area will be available for kids who do not participate in the walk/run and for participants after the race. Activities will include challenges with prizes and face painting.
Since its founding, the foundation has raised $25,000 for brain tumor awareness, research and support of people diagnosed with brain tumors, Woodson said.
The foundation awards scholarships to students who will study neurology or oncology and to students who are brain tumor survivors or have a family member who was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
2015 recipients are Emmett Orr, of New Lenox; Anthea Weng, of Terre Haute, Ind.; and Jalia Sheppard, of Chicago.
Sheppard is the first recipient of the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools Karen Lewis Excellence in Science Award, available to Chicago Public School students in memory of Smith’s attendance at Chicago Public Schools, Woodson said.
Each of the other two scholarships are available to any students.
“The students are from all over the United States,” Woodson said. “Our students have gone on to Harvard, Princeton, Tuskegee and the University of Chicago.”
Woodson said the scholarship awarded to a brain tumor survivor or a student with a family member diagnosed with a brain tumor is for any area of study.
“We want it to help an actual patient or their family members,” she said.
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Ginger Brashinger is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.