Masons run to help clothe foster children

Most people would agree it's gratifying to raise money for a good cause or charity. It's even more so when you're among those who have been impacted by that service.

With regards to the latter, for the foster children of Aaron and Cathy Mason, selecting Spokane's Teen Closet as a recipient of their fundraising efforts was a no-brainer. But with the former, Aaron Mason had an idea involving more than just asking people for money.

Mason wanted Britney, Angela and Sydney to be able to run a marathon.

"The number one reason I suggested the marathon last year and the training for it was I knew if the girls could do it, they would have confidence that would carry over into all of the other parts of their lives from academics to their self-esteem and know there is nothing in life they cannot achieve," Mason said in an email.

So, besides their other early morning chores on the Mason's country home near Amber Lake, the girls were up at 4 a.m. beginning last January to hit the road. They began with a mile walk on Jan. 1, Mason said, and added mileage from there.

As to be expected, not all of those miles came easy. In fact, some were extremely difficult such as the first time Mason and then Cheney High School junior Britney first ran three miles while she was sick with the flu.

Eventually the work began paying off as the group put miles under their belt, and began competing in half marathons, 5K runs and other area races including Spokane's Bloomsday. By Sept. 22, Mason said they had put in 600 miles, and capped their effort by racing and finishing the Portland Marathon, Oct. 5.

The group had some help in developing their running acumen, getting tips and encouragement from Cheney's Carl Coombs, a runner who is part of Eastern Washington University's perennial Bloomsday Corporate Cup-winning team and often places in the top-10 in his age bracket.

"He's the best person who has been able to motivate me," CHS sophomore Angela said. "He's telling us 'you can do this,' 'you got this,' 'great job!' He completely, totally motivated me to do this."

The other motivation for the group was what they were running for - Teen Closet. Modeled after an organization in Florida called Taylor's Closet, Teen Closet was founded by Foster Parent Association President Linda Rogers and KXLY4 news anchor Robyn Nance as a non-profit organization providing free clothes, including brand names, to foster children.

Mason said sometimes when children are pulled out of dangerous situations in their homes, it's done with just the clothes on their backs, nothing more.

"That's what I had," Britney said. "I just had a backpack and my clothes. They took me from school."

Mason said selecting Teen Closet as a charity to raise money was not only about working for something the girls could identify with, but also about "taking our eyes off ourselves" and running for something larger.

"They all loved knowing they were running for Teen Closet," he said.

Apparently, many of those who donated did too. As of Nov. 14, Mason said they had raised over $2,784, and made an appearance on KXLY's morning news show with Nance and fellow newscasters Mark Peterson and Derrick Dice.

Many of those donations came from Mason's school district colleagues, who didn't know the issues surrounding foster care, but became more informed after viewing a video link he emailed to them.

"It's neat when you can open up people's eyes about foster care," Angela said. "(They say) it's great, but how can I help? Well, here's how you can help."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].