Chocolate Chronicles
Daisy Cruz
Braving 10 Degrees for Ana
Daisy has found the Hot Chocolate Run to be a meaningful event to participate in to honor her sister-in-law, Ana Cruz, who was killed in a domestic violence homicide in 2009. Ana was a hardworking and selfless woman who loved her family deeply. She gave generously and put the needs of the people she loved before her own. Even when she was hurting inside, she always had a smile on her face and continued to show love and kindness to everyone around her. Her grandchildren meant the world to her and she treasured every moment with them.
In her first year, 2013, Daisy ran alone, but her team has grown steadily over the years as she has been joined on the run by friends and family. In 2025, Ana's son joined Daisy at the event, and they both remain dedicated to participating to support survivors of domestic violence and relationship abuse in remembrance of Ana.
Daisy's experience of losing Ana has impacted her perspective on domestic violence, and she hopes that her participation in the Hot Chocolate Run may help to raise not only funds but also awareness and support for survivors. She came to understand that domestic violence "doesn't discriminate. It doesn’t matter if you’re poor or rich, educated or not.” Ana's death gave Daisy a new sense of compassion and made her more likely to step in when she thinks someone may be in trouble. She explains, "if even one person can be saved, to me that is more than anything."
At her first Hot Chocolate Run, Daisy was struck by the stickers that other participants wore with their reasons for running. As she ran, she read her fellow participants' stickers and thought, "Wow, this is huge, this is a big thing." She remembers feeling that her eyes were opened to people getting involved with the cause, some being survivors themselves and others honoring people who are no longer alive. Each year that she runs, Daisy and her husband put Ana's name on their stickers, and they find this to be extremely meaningful.
Thinking of a particularly cold Hot Chocolate Run, when the temperatures dropped to 10 degrees, Daisy tells us, "We still did it though, because that's how much it means to us that it didn't matter. It didn't matter that it was freezing." She speaks of the children who participate in the Hot Chocolate Run: "these kids probably have no idea why they're here, but as they grow up and continue to come they're going to know why they're here, and that they started at a very young age. And that sounds promising to me."
Daisy runs so that Ana is not forgotten and so that other families never have to feel this loss. She braved 10-degree cold, gathered her loved ones, and turned grief into action. Now she asks only this: that if even one person is saved, it is more than anything.
You can be that person’s lifeline. Sign up for the Hot Chocolate Run, start a fundraising team, and ask your community to give. Every dollar you raise stays local with Safe Passage, providing shelter, advocacy, and hope to survivors of domestic violence.
Ana’s grandchildren will grow up knowing why their family shows up every year. Let’s make sure they grow up in a world with fewer empty chairs at the table.
Register today. Fundraise with purpose. Honor Ana. Save someone else.
Support Daisy and her mission here: p2p.onecause.com/hcr2026/daisy-cruz