Dear Silence Breakers,
We are so excited to host our 20th annual Run to Break the Silence with our presenting sponsor, Sandia Resort and Casino, on Sunday June 4, 2023. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since the Run was started as a fundraiser by the Riley Family, whose son was attending our school! Today Nolan is a successful professional working in renewable wind energy in New York, a profession he would not have been able to consider had he not been given the opportunity to learn to hear and speak.
It's success stories like Nolan's, and those of the more than 200 graduates from our school that make this fundraiser so important! Our goal for the 2023 Run to Break the Silence is to raise $50,000 to help support our school and the students who will be attending in the upcoming school year. On average, PEI awards $150,000 in tuition assistance per year, for families who might not otherwise be able to afford for their child to learn to hear and speak. Proceeds from the Run to Break the Silence allow PEI to reduce the cost of tuition for financially struggling families based on each families individual need. Thanks to generous sponsors and participants of this fun event, PEI has never denied a child access to the program based on a family’s ability to pay.
We invite you to join us on Sunday, June 4 for a morning of fitness and fun to benefit PEI’s School for Oral Deaf Education, where deaf and hard of hearing children and children with speech and language delays learn to hear and speak and access to the most basic human need – communication!
Over the past two years we have tried several software applications and have come back to One Cause because it offers the best features and allows you to register online as well as share your participation on Social Media, which helps PEI raise more money for our school and the children attending. You can choose to not only participate in the run event/s, but you can also help fundraise by sharing why you run for PEI! The more people who participate and share their pages, the more kids PEI will be able to give the gift of hearing and speaking! If you ran with us in 2021, you will be familiar with the software. If not, please take a minute to review our FAQ's page before registering.
I want to thank you for joining us over the years and supporting this fun and memorable event. I hope we will see all of our friends in September! We look forward to Breaking the Silence together!
With Best Wishes,
Seema LaGree, Au.D.
Executive Director