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Teens bring families together for charity

From left: Morgan Kempe, Sionna Barton of the Bermuda Heart Foundation, Jordan Etemadi and Yusef Bushara. (Photograph by Jonathan Bell)

Three teens have teamed up for a day of community service, bringing families and friends together in the name of better health.

Yusef Bushara, Jordan Etemadi and Morgan Kempe initially planned their school community service project to be a “colour run”, but found they’d been beaten to it.

The five-kilometre race in which runners are showered with coloured powder already was a great idea — so good that it had already been taken up for last weekend. “We thought it would be cool and we put some time into organising it, but we had to change the idea once we realised,” said 13-year-old Morgan.

The Somersfield Academy trio opted to set up the Family Fun 5K walk for May 15 instead, and contacted the Bermuda Heart Foundation as a worthy cause.

The core ideas remained: they wanted their event to get people out and active, as well as helping a health charity.

The three agreed on a walk through Hamilton aimed at families, and inviting them to bring along pets and friends. The cause: heart disease — one of the island’s most widespread chronic diseases.

“I was thrilled when they approached me and asked if they could do something for us,” said Sionna Barton, the foundation’s marketing and events manager.

Ms Barton spends her time coordinating events like the Jump 2b Fit programme, but when it came to the Family Fun 5K, “I put it all on their shoulders”, she told The Royal Gazette.

The walk through Hamilton would entail preparation: roads to be closed, for instance, and marshals along the way

Explained 14-year-old Yusef: “In order for it to be possible I had to contact the parks department, to use Barr’s Bay Park, the St John Ambulance, and the Bermuda Police.”

Starting from the park, walkers of all ages and sizes will proceed down Front Street and loop back through Hamilton — with all funds raised going to the foundation. “It’s nothing strenuous — it’s for families to come and get exercise in a way that’s social and fun,” said Jordan, 13.

The M3 students will dispatch their school’s mandatory community service along the way.

• Members of the community interested in helping, volunteering or learning more are invited to contact Yusef for details, at ybushara14@yahoo.com.