By Maggie Huss
On January 6, the Northern Kentucky community came together for the Hurm Dawg 5k fundraiser in support of Jeremy Hurm and his family. Jeremy was recently diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer in December.
“We are a community. We are a family. [The fundraiser] showed how many people love Jeremy. Not just his family and his friends, but the running community. I was just shocked and stunned by how many people showed up,” St. Henry Principal Grant Brannen said. “It was packed and everybody was just there and smiling.”
During this cold and rainy day, Idlewild Park was packed with over 1,100 runners signed up to run the 5k, over 100 volunteers and supporters, local businesses that donated their services and help from the Boone County Parks to make this fundraiser happen. The committee that put together the fundraiser included three coaches in the area and parents, such as Suzi Francis.
“We just felt that there is a lot of energy and a lot of people from different areas in Jeremy’s life that want to support and encourage him and help in any way they could. So what better way to do that, and put the energy in something that Jeremy loves, into a 5k run,” Francis said. “A huge amount of not only financial support is raised for him, but just emotional encouragement as well.”
Roughly 760 people crossed the finish line and the contributions from the community came up to be roughly over $80,000 for Jeremy and his treatments. Francis and the committee came together with this idea and made it happen in less than four weeks.
Starting out, they really hoped to have at least 300 people sign up, however, on December 28 the sign ups had to be closed due to possibly too many people on the course. According to Francis, 350 additional people signed up on that day alone. The NKY community gathered to be there for the Hurm family.
“Jeremy is alway optimistic and selfless. He is a mentor to many that he coaches. He is funny and positive,” Francis said. “I have known him since high school. We went to high school together and he has coached all four of my kids.”
Jeremy is a 1995 St. Henry graduate and is the current boys cross country coach. He plans to coach girls track in the spring.
“He just loves the school and the athletic department, cross country and track, and he just wants to see the programs succeed. He is ready and fired up to be the [girls track] coach and there is no stopping it to be quite honest,” St. Henry Athletic Director Jim Demler said. “He’s extremely positive about everything and just wants to hit this head on [even though he is] going through treatments.”
Demler is a first-year athletic director, but from meeting Jeremy until now, Demler has been able to see the type of man Jeremy is.
“He’s a fabulous guy and an outstanding coach. The kids love him and they respect him. He’s a hard-worker. He always has the best interest of the kids at hand,” Demler said. “People just kind of attract to him because of his personality.”
Jeremy is a big member of the community and has provided for St. Henry and many runners in the area, so the people behind him just wanted to give back and be by his side. Also, there were some people who showed up for Jeremy, who did not know him at all.
“This [fundraiser] is just a really great example of all of the good that is out there in the Northern Kentucky tri-state area, so many stories that have come from this such as a 79-year-old man that heard about [the fundraiser] and signed up and walked the whole thing. He does not know Jeremy at all, but believed in what was going on,” Francis said. “Amazing stories to see how people rally around someone, because of what he is meant and because of the unfortunate diagnosis, that people are still there to support him.”
There are many ways to help Jeremy and his family through this situation such as donations and checks made to ”Hurm Fundraiser” and can be dropped off at L&N Credit Union. The St. Henry community is asking for support through prayer.
“We are a school that is built on faith,” Brannen said. “So prayers go a long way with us and hopefully we continue that and just support Jeremy and his family throughout this.”