RACE AGAINST HATE
Ricky Byrdsong Memorial

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St. Matthew's is a proud sponsor of the YWCA's Race Against Hate. 

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REGISTER NOW using this LINK and join TEAM ST. MATT'S.

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Register to run or walk with us.

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Join us for our Mass on the Grass at the southwest corner of Floyd Field at 7AM.

 

Drop by St. Matthew's hospitality tent from 7:30AM - 10:30AM to learn more about our mission and ministry.

 

On Father's Day each June, the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate brings together thousands of people from all over Chicagoland to run and walk in unity against racial hatred and violence. Whether you're a casual walker or a competitive runner, we have a place for you! Now entering its 20th year, the Race features music, on-field refreshments and fun for the whole family. Add to that technical t-shirts, great give-away bags, awards, a fast, flat, scenic race course along Lake Michigan and a great cause, and you have a positive community event you won't want to miss.

The Race Against Hate honors the legacy of Ricky Byrdsong, former Northwestern University Basketball Coach, Vice President of Affairs at Aon Corporation, and Skokie resident who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999 while walking in his neighborhood with two of his young children. On the same day, the shooter wounded six Orthodox Jews in Rogers Park. Over the subsequent weekend, he killed a Korean American graduate student in Indiana and wounded an African American minister in Decatur before taking his own life.

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Because of Ricky's lifelong love of sports and his compelling work with young people in the community, the Race Against Hate was launched by his family and friends in 2000 (and entrusted to the YWCA Evanston/North Shore in 2007) to honor Ricky's legacy and bring attention to the need to combat hatred in all its forms.

 

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