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Nonprofit Jump for Kids ‘serving’ at next weekend’s Run Fest
A local nonprofit at next weekend’s St. Pete Run Fest will raise money for youth fitness in an unusual way: Slinging beer.
Jump for Kids is celebrating another year of its volunteers serving as the beer and wine vendor for Run Fest, and for Shopapalooza (Nov. 29-30). Jump for Kids (JfK) is dedicated to promoting physical education, fitness and health in Florida children aged 5-17, including “providing access to sports, nutrition programs and self-defense training that build healthy habits, resilience and confidence for life.”
Founder and President Jeff Pope, a weightlifter and personal trainer, originally conceived of JfK while living in Jacksonville. He had become involved as a volunteer and contributor with a breast cancer charity, In the Pink, and wanted to find a way to turn his day job into an opportunity to give back.
Pope felt there was a gap in the sorts of people he was able to support. It wasn’t dedicated weightlifters or fitness enthusiasts who could benefit from him, he reasoned: It was young people who lacked exposure or opportunity to build skills around fitness.
If you can reach people when they’re young and teach them about exercise and weight training, Pope reasoned, “they’ll actually have the basics in their toolbox that should make them thrive.” Jump for Kids was founded after Pope relocated to St. Pete in 2013.
Since then, Jump for Kids has partnered extensively with public, private and home schools alike across the bay area. Its programs feature in Pinellas County Schools from Gulfport Elementary in the south to Dunedin Elementary in the north; it serves five of the eight locations of Plato Academy, an award-winning charter school, and two local home school networks, Hop Home Schools of Pinellas and Love of Learning. In addition, JfK runs a number of programs independently or in collaboration with groups like CASA and Big Brother Big Sisters.
That includes an array of fitness and martial arts-themed resources, like girls’ self-defense courses, PE programs, custom fitness and nutrition plans, and run clubs. They’ve even returned to their roots, as they’re building out the high school weightlifting program for Plato Academy Tampa.
Jump for Kids hit upon the unusual fundraising strategy of selling beer and wine at local events thanks to a connection with local realtor and restaurateur Jon LaBudde. Pope wanted to ensure a fundraising stream that was both reliable and repeatable – and didn’t mind looking outside the box.
Pope realized it was unusual –“We’re giving alcohol to adults and using it to help kids,” he said with a laugh – but also that success would be self-sustaining into the future.
After completing the onerous process to secure a beer and wine license, Pope and JfK secured the beer and wine vendor role at both Run Fest and Shopapalooza, in addition to supporting the Localtopia and Skyway 10k events. This year, their portion of beverage sales across those events could exceed $40,000, all of which will go to youth fitness.
They’re also providing free entries to Run Fest’s 1 mile kids race for 25 local kids – and new running shoes to match. They frequently provide shoes, basketballs and sports equipment to local families free or at cost.
Jamal Wise, the group’s director of school operations, got involved with the group as he looked for new ways to engage youth in an after-school program for those struggling in reading and math. Exercise and the outdoors, he reasoned, would help keep kids engaged. “We set up tents at high schools to help kids get into kickboxing,” Wise remembered.
Since then, JfK has opened in more than a dozen schools across the area. Said Pope, “Jamal has been amazing at getting us new locations – we’ve added in 10 locations in the last 12 months.
“I’ve got to say, everything that we’re doing right now is accomplishing all of our goals.”
