Reach Within runs with 10K to help children

When Karen Lawson heard about this year’s Shelter Island 10K theme, “Overcoming Obstacles,” she knew her “Reach Within” team had to be part of the June 15 event, especially at a time when the original “Reach Grenada” group, founded in 2008, is expanding to communities beyond that tiny Caribbean Island to help improve the emotional wellbeing of abused or abandoned children elsewhere in the region. The goal is to  reach out to more children, initially in the Caribbean and eventually globally, with support, training and wellness programs that will prove uplifting in the effort to help them overcome their obstacles.

Ms. Lawson credits Shelter Island 10K organizer Mary Ellen Adipietro and her team with generously including Reach Within among the beneficiaries of this year’s race. A team of 25 Reach Within runners, ranging in age from  11 to 60, are securing their own sponsorship, something they have done for the New York City Marathon. On the same day, Reach Within will be holding its Shelter Island Summer Soirée at the home of Patrick Parcells and Annbeth Eschbach in Dering Harbor.

It’s Reach Within’s most significant fund raiser this year, featuring a cocktail party and silent auction from 4 to 7:30 p.m. with winners of auction items to be announced at 7:45 p.m.

Ms. Lawson promises a menu of hors d’oeuvres created by Pierre Schaedelin of PSTailored Events, and beverages sponsored by Belvedere Vodka.

As for that silent auction, the 250 people who attend will be entering bids to purchase items including a trip to an Italian vineyard; a week-long trip to Grenada with a visit to the Belmont Estate cocoa plantation; and a day with the personal services of a celebrity stylist. Other items include a fishing trip and picnic luncheon in Southampton; a custom -built tree house constructed by Ms. Lawson’s brother, Chris Chabor; pet portraits; babysitting services; and a round of golf at Gardiners Bay Country Club.

Reach Within, which started as Reach Grenada, grew out of tragedy. Ms. Lawson and her late husband Bart Lawson always loved Grenada — the easy temperament of the people and the beauty of the island — she said. Mr. Lawson, who had been an advisor, particularly on health care issues, to former New York governors Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki, became an ambassador at large to Grenada and worked to improve the lives of children there. He spearheaded efforts to build playgrounds and other facilities that would stand as beacons of hope. At 54, Mr. Lawson was in Grenada to receive an award for his efforts when he succumbed to a heart attack.

His widow was determined to carry on his work and formed the New York-based  Bart J. Lawson Foundation for Children that runs Reach Grenada, an organization determined to keep her husband’s work alive.

“I’m not shy about asking,” Ms. Lawson said about her efforts to enlist friends to help with events so vital to keeping Reach Within funded. Besides launching various support programs for the children, the money goes to build libraries, improve homes and provide playgrounds in impoverished communities.

Most of all, Reach Within wants its volunteers to establish an emotional commitment and attachment to the children in the communities it serves. There hasn’t been a volunteer who hasn’t left Grenada in tears after participating in a project there, Ms. Lawson said.

She travels to Grenada four or five times a year for about a week at a time to oversee the projects under way there. And  she has a small crew of trained workers there and in Manhattan  who help to carry the administrative load for the organization. None are highly paid, Ms. Lawson said, determined that money be earmarked primarily for projects, not staff.

Tickets for the Shelter Island Summer Soirée are $250 for adults, $125 for children or $700 for families.  Call 212-605-0281 for more information or reserve your tickets at reachwithin.evenbrite.com.