November 12, 2016 - A 5-kilometer charity race will be held in Lindenhurst this month to honor a former resident who was killed in Ethiopia in October.
Organizers are celebrating the life and work of Sharon Gray, a 2003 graduate of Antioch Community High School who was a postdoctoral researcher in the plant biology department at the University of California, Davis.
Gray was in Ethiopia on Oct. 4 for a meeting about her research when the vehicle in which she was riding was attacked by anti-government protesters.
The run is set for 11:30 a.m. Nov. 26 at Lindenhurst's Millennium Park, 201 Country Place Lane.
Gray loved running and especially enjoyed visiting that park with her nieces and nephews, said her sister, Ruth Gray-Wilke.
"She encouraged all of us to run together and be active together," said Gray-Wilke, of Lombard.
Proceeds will go to the Sharon Gray Memorial Scholarship, which will benefit young women in science. More than $108,000 has been pledged to the scholarship since an online campaign launched last month.
Scholarship recipients will include women seeking to study science, Gray-Wilke said. For example, the fund will be used to bring a female Ethiopian scientist Gray met there to the United States for additional training.
"This will carry on Sharon's legacy of not only the example she set, but her seemingly endless supply of compassion and energy (to) help others," said her brother-in-law, Matt Wilke.
Organizers hope the run will become an annual event.
Source: Daily Herald
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