Conover, NC – On Saturday, September 11, Shining Hope Farms will be hosting a 5K/10K trail run at its Conover location. The trail run will be honoring Veterans, First responders, law enforcement, and those lost on 9/11. The proceeds from this event will be used to provide scholarships for participants in Shining Hope Farms’ Saddles and Salutes program.Salute Trail Run 5K/10K

Event attendees will enjoy five miles of trails along Lake Hickory on the farm’s sprawling 120 acres just north of Charlotte. The 5K or 10K option can be walked or ran and both will be chip timed. Registration includes a t-shirt and there will be an awards ceremony with a food truck, fun for the family, and music after the race.

Shining Hope Farms’ Saddles and Salutes program is designed to help Veterans thrive in the process of re-integrating from military to civilian life through therapeutic group horseback riding lessons with other Veterans. Runners who are moved by the mission of the program have the option to crowd fund to sponsor a service member, by raising $1000 it puts a participant through the program for 1 year. Those who fully fund a participant thru the program, will receive a personalized Shining Hope Farms YETI.

“We are very excited to offer this event! We invite people to come out and see our Conover farm, our trails, learn more about our services, and help support our Saddles and Salutes program,” said Milinda Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of Shining Hope Farms, “Proceeds from this event will help provide scholarships for participants going through our program so they do not have to pay out of pocket. We strive to provide equitable access to our services to anyone in the community that can benefit from them, regardless of their ability to pay. We are proud to host this event to honor our first responders, Veterans, and law enforcement and thank them for everything they do for our community.”

The event is made possible by generous community sponsors including Hickory Furniture Mart, Holiday Inn Express, Precision Paving, My Computer Career, and Bowman Drug Co of Conover.

Those interested in signing up or supporting a service member can do so at shininghopesaluterun.s2fevents.com.

For more information, please visit the website at shininghopefarms.org or call 704-827-3788.