Hope for Depression Research Foundation Raises a Record $500,000 in Palm Beach Race of Hope

Event Draws More than 400 participants including Local Businesses to Raise Mental Health Awareness

The Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s (HDRF) Fourth Annual 5K Race of Hope to Defeat Depression gathered some 400 men, women, and children on Saturday morning in Palm Beach to support mental health awareness and urgent research into depression and anxiety.

The festive event raised a record $525,000 for HDRF’s advanced biomedical research into new treatments for clinical depression, a major global health crisis, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

HDRF Founding Chair Audrey Gruss and Board member Scott Snyder served as the Co-Grand Marshals of the 5K walk/run.

“I founded HDRF to lead research in the causes of depression and in their treatment,” said Gruss to the crowd, just before the 8AM starting gun. “Depression is the Number One cause of disability worldwide, and rates of depression have tripled in the U.S. due to the pandemic. We are moved by the groundswell of support from the Palm Beach community, which have gone above and beyond to exceed fundraising targets for this event.”

Gruss added: “One hundred percent of all donations go directly to life-saving research at HDRF, the most advanced depression research organization in the country today. We have several new treatments in clinical trials and we won’t quit until there’s a cure.”

The staggered heats were a safety measure to avoid crowding, ensuring a careful return to in person racing as the world emerges from the pandemic. Each runner was assigned a “start wave” according to their speed. Lining up in the start corrals were: professional runners, casual walkers, families with babies and dogs, and teams from local businesses such as Jefferson Capital, Livingston Builders, Aktion Art, Le Bilboquet, Smith and Elkin, Fit2Run and Tennenbaum and Sullivan.

At the close of the Race, Audrey Gruss and Scott Snyder presented Awards to the top finishers and to the top fundraisers. The top Overall Male winner was, Stephen Wilsman, and the top Overall Female winner was Lilia Drew. The Award for Top Fundraising Team from the PB Race of Hope Committee went to Kameron Ramirez and his team Aktion Art (30 members) which raised $9,282. The Award for Top Individual Fundraiser from the PB Race of Hope Committee went to Charlotte Bocly who raised $2,972 from friends and family for her race. The Award for Top Individual Fundraiser from the general public went to Mona Nasser who raised $4,761. The award for largest team went to Fit 2 Run, which had 49 members.

Committee Race participants included: Charles and Kaaren Hale, Tricia Quick, James & Teresa Remez, Tom Quick, John Hendrickson, Pamela Cohen, Joseph Hernandez, Joel Pashcow, Kara Ross, Eddy Taylor, Sharon Bush & Robert C. Murray, Luce Churchill, Joanna Roland, Frances & Jeffrey Fisher, Nancy Yanofsky and Ed Brown.

Junior Committee participating were: PJ Quick, Charlotte Bocly, Andrew Filauro, Hollis Bradley Pica, Caleb Smith, Bettina Anderson, Carolina Buia Barefoot, Maggi Haigh, Katherine Lande & Kevin Condon, Stacey Leuliette, Nick Mele, Matthew Oleszczuk, Kameron Ramirez, Nic Roldan, Whitney Lovell Schott, Kirsten Smith, Jane Stevens, Alanna Sutherland, Tom Treacy, Dobi Trendafilova.

Palm Beach Race of Hope Committee

Diamond

James R. Borynack & Adolfo Zaralegui/Findlay Galleries, Dominique Buaron, Jamee & Peter Gregory, Missy & Eduardo de Guardiola, Charles & Kaaren Hale, John Hendrickson, Tricia Quick, Thomas C. Quick & Michael Donnell, James & Teresa Remez/Livingston Builders

Platinum

Catherine Adler, Annabelle & Denis Coleman, Jr., Deborah & Philippe Dauman, The Honorable David Fischer & Jennifer Fischer, Lisa Kenna, Nicola Marcus, Heidi & Tom McWilliams, Renee & Carlos Morrison, PJ Quick Pollack

Gold

Becky & F. William Bryan, Pamela Cohen & Nick Korniloff, James H. Coleman, Julie & Mike Connors, Maria & Kenneth Fishel, William E. Flaherty, Cindy & Chris Galvin, Felicia & Peter Gottsegen, Joseph Hernandez, Tania & Brian Higgins, Darlene & Jerry Jordan, Sheila & Robert Josephberg, Melanie & Roger Lawson, Petra Levin, Robert F. Mancuso, Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Anita & Sam Michaels, Muffy & Donald Miller, Joel Pashcow, Jeffrey Pfeifle, Amy & John Phelan, Marzia Precoda, Kara Ross, Eddy & John J. Taylor lll

Silver

Agneta Angel, Paola Bacchini Rosenshein, Bruce Bierman & William Secord, CeCe Black, Kimmy & Steve Brauer, Sharon Bush & Robert C. Murray, Luce Churchill, Anne Fisher, Frances Fisher, Linda Gary & Michael Belisle, Heidi Hanna, Nicki & Ira Harris, Inez Fogel Heery, Manager, Greenleaf & Crosby, Yaz & Valentin Hernandez, Eve & Herb Jacobi, Ann Follis Jeffery, Jayne T. Keith, Eleanora Kennedy, Carol & Earle Mack, Annabelle & Alberto Mariaca, William A. Meyer, John & Carole Moran, Diana Morrison, Lucia N. Musso, Linda Olsson, Sallie B. Phillips, Joanna Roland, Frances G. Scaife, Barbara & Randall Smith, Ginny & David Sydorick, Betsy & Wally Turner, Nicholas Varney, Lis Waterman, Ellen & James Wilner, Nancy Yanofsky & Ed Brown, Clelia & Tom Zacharias, David Zislin

Palm Beach Race of Hope Inaugural Junior Committee

Chairman: PJ Quick Pollack

Co-Chairs: Charlotte Bocly, Stephanie & Andrew Filauro, Hollis Bradley Pica, Caleb M. Smith and Sarah Wetenhall

Bettina Anderson, Wendy Benichou, Carolina Buia Barefoot, Samantha Curry, Brianne Goutal, Clementine Goutal, Oliver R. Grace lll, Nolan & Michael Greenwald , Lourdes de Guardiola & Michael Morrissey, Maggi Haigh, Emma Holzer, Katherine Lande & Kevin Condon, Stacey Leuliette, Nick Mele, Lauren Merck, Isabella Meyer, Dr. Richard Miron, Matthew Oleszczuk, Abigail Owen-Pontez, Alexis Posada TeStrake, Kameron Ramirez, Michael Gregson Reinert, Robert Riva, Nic Roldan, Mathieu Rosinsky, Joshua Sagman, Whitney Lovell Schott, Kirsten Smith, Jane Stevens, Alanna Sutherland, Casey Taylor, Pamela Tombari, Tom Treacy, Dobi Trendafilova, Alvin Valley and Grace Wills

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

Le Rosey Summer Camps, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Palm Beach Illustrated, Sant Ambroeus, Starbucks, Sunreef Yachts and Tammy Fender Holistic Skin Care

News Coverage of the Day https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/lifestyle/2022/02/26/annual-race-hope-attracts-300-plus-runners-walkers-palm-beach-depression-research/6953884001/