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Special Edition Sale Benefits Resource Center

Pictured Wednesday morning at Tim Hortons in Jamestown are Greg Fye, June Young, Matt Rhinehart and Kayla Bohall. P-J photo by Timothy Frudd

To prepare for this year’s iteration of the Laurel Run, special editions of the Dunkirk OBSERVER and The Post-Journal were sold throughout the county Wednesday morning to raise money for the event.

Special editions of the OBSERVER have been sold for the event since 2007, while Post-Journal special editions are new as of last year.

The Laurel Run was started by Wayne and Elaine Hotelling in 1997, in honor of their daughter, Laurel. Laurel faced many challenges in her life, but was able to live a full and productive one thanks to support from her family and the community.

Steve Waterson has been involved with the Laurel Run ever since the event began in 1997. As it’s evolved, he said that people have gotten progressively more generous as the years have gone on, and while the price of the paper hasn’t changed from its normal $1, the amount of money received sometimes does.

“It’s not uncommon for people to give $3 or $5 or $20 and take the paper and not ask for change,” said Waterson. “We are very grateful for the generosity.”

Waterson also said adding special editions of The Post-Journal last year have helped, as the Laurel Run has expanded to become a full event for Chautauqua County.

“We did so well selling the papers in the north county, but the Laurel Run touches the whole county,” said Waterson. “We were excited to get The Post-Journal on board last year to help us spread the word.”

Waterson, the community relations director at the Resource Center, said he’s very happy to see the success that Wayne and Elaine Hotelling have had since the run began, and is happy that the public is getting a chance to see what people with disabilities can accomplish. “It’s all about letting the public know that people with special needs can accomplish special things if given the opportunity,” he said. “It’s a chance to celebrate people with disabilities and the way the public has embraced the event is very heartwarming and we’re so grateful to everybody for their support.”

All five Tim Hortons locations in Jamestown were selling special editions of The Post-Journal, and received help from the Jamestown Police Department in selling the papers. Meanwhile, Silver Creek had special guest sellers as well, including Mayor Jeff Hornburg and State Sen. George Borrello, and in Fredonia, members of the girls varsity soccer and boys football team assisted with selling papers. All told, about $2,800 was raised over a three-hour period.

The Laurel Run will take place Friday, July 15 with the relay run from Jamestown to Dunkirk, while Saturday, July 16 will feature the main Laurel Run in Silver Creek.

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