5K to raise money for family of Foundation Academy football player | Observer Preps

Hundreds of runners are going to lace up and run to support the family of Bailey Trinder this Friday, Oct. 12.

The Bailey Strong 5K is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. at the school’s South Campus and will raise money to help the Trinder family. Trinder, a junior lineman for the Foundation Academy football team, suffered a spinal injury in an automobile accident Sept. 6 that nearly took his life.

Trinder survived, though, and the hope for the race is to raise funds to help with mounting costs of his physical therapy and care.

“With the 5K, we hope we can offset the costs and the adversity (the family is) going to face,” said Joe Cioffi, the director of marketing and communications for the school. “(The students) thought it was a good opportunity to help the Trinder family, and (the race) just seems like it has grown on a daily basis, in terms of the amount of people who will participate.”

At last count, Cioffe says more than 200 runners have signed up, and the event is open to students and adults for an entry price of $20 that includes a Bailey Strong t-shirt.

Cioffi says the event was thought of by the leadership of the school’s Student Government Association and National Honor Society — particularly Victoria Del Campo — and that the event had, in past years, taken place to raise money for breast cancer research.

The Bailey Strong 5K is being supported by several vendors and volunteers, including Chick-Fil-A Winter Garden and Ocoee — owned by the Boast family — and the Chick-Fil-A in Clermont.

In total, the event is further evidence of the resolve with which the Foundation Academy community — and beyond — have responded to the accident.

“It seemed like the impact was immediate — within hours of the accident, our community responded,” Cioffi said. “There were a couple hundred people at the hospital during a touch-and-go situation. As this was happening, the people at Foundation banded together to support the family emotionally and also support with food, prayer and any help that they needed.”