Students and faculty from Temple University’s Fox School of Business are lacing up their running shoes to make a difference for a non-profit organization in Philadelphia.

Runners who have registered for Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run on May 7 are welcome to join the Fox School’s team, led by professor Michael McCloskey. Interested runners can purchase a Fox School team running shirt to be worn on the day of the 10-mile race, with all proceeds supporting a charitable organization.

This year’s charity of choice, ARTZ Philadelphia, is a non-profit organization that provides opportunities for self-expression and the rebuilding of self-esteem and dignity to people living with dementia and their caretakers through the use of artwork.

“Our team fields faculty and students from all of Temple’s schools and colleges, not to mention alumni,” said McCloskey, who teaches in Fox’s Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management. “Not only are we helping a great cause, but we’re bringing together our entire university in the process.”

McCloskey’s team, in its ninth year, expects more than 250 runners and nearly $4,000 in contributions to ARTZ Philadelphia. The team had only 15 runners in 2009, its first year.

This effort is but one facet of the yearlong contributions being made to ARTZ Philadelphia.

Annually, students from Temple’s Sigma Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma – a national professional organization for risk management and insurance majors – support a charity of choice through active fundraising during the academic year. In 2015-16, the Sigma Chapter donated $15,000 to Brave Hearts for Strong Minds, a Philadelphia-based organization that provides college funds for children who have lost an income-earning parent.

“The work of these students is an extraordinary active investment in their community,” said Susan Shifrin, ARTZ Philadelphia’s founder and executive director. “That’s one of the things that has most impressed me. Additionally, these students have participated in volunteer training sessions to find other ways to give back to our organization. I have been very impressed with their sensitivity and their commitment to philanthropy.”

ARTZ Philadelphia has an estimated operating budget of $60,000, said Shifrin, which demonstrates the need for the anticipated five-digit donation from Fox’s students.

“The possibilities are endless with how their contributions can support our work,” Shifrin said.

For Fox’s Broad Street Run team, the charitable connections do not end there. The team receives its running shirts at no charge from Ivory Ella, a charitably minded apparel company owned by 2015 Fox School alumnus Rich Henne. What’s more, the running team guarantees its runners free campus parking, and provides transportation to and from the start-finish lines and a post-race barbeque courtesy Temple Police.

“Our team receives support from top to bottom,” McCloskey said. “Overall, the groundswell of support we have received from Temple runners who want to help a good cause has been outstanding.

“I think everyone wants to be a part of something that supports a greater cause, and that’s what we’re trying to do through the Broad Street Run.”