Each year in early September since 2008, the College of Kinesiology puts on KinSpin, a charity run to raise money in the spirit of fun and being active.

The annual run is open to students, staff and families from the university community, especially those who also participate in the college’s Physical Activity for Active Living (PAAL) program, with each participant having the option of running, walking or wheeling a 1 kilometer or 5 kilometer course that starts and finishes in the Bowl. 

The PAAL program is set up for kids who live with physical and intellectual impairments, but still desire to be active and participate in a healthy lifestyle. There is a summer camp that takes place, as well as weekly sessions that run throughout the school year at the University of Saskatchewan.

All the money raised from KinSpin goes towards the college’s Special Needs Trust Fund, which in turn helps run the cost of these camps and helps pay for a variety of other initiatives. With $9,000 raised at this year’s event and almost $200,000 raised to date, KinSpin has become a crucial part of the program’s success.

One of the main organizers Kim Jones, who works for Campus Recreation Services at the College of Kinesiology, has been a part of the event since the very beginning.

“I came in the first summer when they ran it for the first time… It’s grown immensely over the years. Our very first summer camp had two participants only. This past summer we had upwards of 80 participants,” she said.

Jones is part of the committee who helps run the PAAL program and they determine where the money raised should be spent.

“One year, we sent a number of kids to New York for a dance camp; we’ve purchased newer wheelchairs; we have had modifications made to our change rooms so they’re more accessible to folks confined to chairs or have mobility issues. A number of years back, they put in the lifts that you see at both pools. From year to year, we just sit and down see where we can best spend the money,” Jones said.

Volunteers at the event included students and faculty from various colleges and even high school students. Jones and the rest of the organizing committee are humbled by the support they receive each and every year. Many of them not only commit their time to events such as these, but to the weekly PAAL sessions where they interact much more closely with the kids.

Jones knows that even though their staff works hard to put on these types of fundraisers, they couldn’t do it without the help of others.

“Our programs can’t run without the volunteers. We have a partnership with professors [in Kinesiology] and a partnership with the pharmacy college. So we get a number of their students and a number of education students, and we also draw from high schools,” Jones said. “Lots of them come for the first time because they have to, and they end up staying because they enjoy it so much. We have lots of volunteers that have been here for five or six years.”

WIth KinSpin being such a huge success and the positive feedback they receive every year, Jones is already looking ahead to next year. Although she still thinks there’s room for improvement, Jones enjoys what they’ve started.

“It’s tough because we’re so early in the school year and there’s so many other runs happening. We really want to hit the campus community and that’s our goal, to stay focused on what we have on campus and what we have in the community here.”