Share and Follow
The race was meant to act as a symbol of the joint campaign between the Jewish Community Alliance and the First Coast YMCA, ‘Together Against Hate’.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hundreds of runners and walkers participated in the first-ever ‘Racing Against Hate’ 5K on Sunday in Riverside.
The 5K was meant to symbolize the partnership between Jacksonville-based groups the Jewish Community Alliance and First Coast YMCA coming together through their joint campaign “Together Against Hate”.
The race course started at the Winston Family YMCA in Riverside and ran across the Northbank in Downtown Jacksonville starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
More than 600 people signed up for the race, which organizers say included a variety of people from across the First Coast.
“We have children; we have parents; we have adults; grandparents,” Ericia Moore, the VP of social responsibility and operations for the First Coast YMCA, said. “I think it’s an opportunity for everybody to come and be a part of the community and just bring that love and caring that we all want. “
The race was meant to be a “visual representation” of the campaign between the JCA and the YMCA.
“I think it’s a symbol for lots of people,” said Jewish Community Alliance CEO Adam Chaskin. “This city is a great city, and this city has great people, that stand up to hate for those small minorities that choose to express it in the different forms that they do, and that it’s something the city will not tolerate.”
Chaskin said it was the antisemitic hate displayed during the 2022 Florida-Georgia football game that prompted the groups to come together.
“Eric and I, Eric Mann the CEO of the YMCA, and I got together and discussed that we should do something together,” said Chaskin. “We got our programming staffs together and that’s what became Together Against Hate.”
Since September, the group has held monthly community discussions addressing different forms of hate towards faith, race, antisemitism, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+ rights and diverse abilities.
With every discussion, came a new speaker from other organizations in the community.
The groups that took part in the discussions included the Anti-Defamation League, OneJax, JASMYN, 904Ward, The Arc Jacksonville, Interfaith Center, and LJD Jewish Family & Community Services.
“Most forms of hate are a result of a lack of education or experience,” Chaskin added, “and so working to devise educational programs to help break down those barriers and the forms of hate that people sometimes have just because they haven’t had the experience.”
For more information on “Together Against Hate,” click here.
