Saturday, May 3, marked Emerson’s second annual Color Run. The Color Run lasted from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and served as the closing event for the school’s Wish Week fundraiser, devoted to raising money for our wish kid Liam. Through donations, Emerson raised over $15,000 towards making Liam’s wish to visit Disneyland come true. The Color Run is a 5K where people from across the community get some exercise for a great cause. Maverick Leadership students have been crucial members in the curation of the Color Run and giving Liam the most wonderful time possible.

Junior class co-president and Make-A-Wish organizer Addisyn Wimberly strives to make an impact on the district through Emerson’s Color Run event.

“The Color Run … [is] a 5K fun run where everybody wears their white [Make-A-Wish] shirts … it’s a time where our school gets to give back and get involved in the community to show … we’re not just another high school in Frisco ISD,” Wimberly said. “I hope the Color Run can become a staple to our philanthropy at Emerson. Especially for Frisco ISD as a community, … I’d love to spearhead a tradition that could last forever in the district.”

The planning and Color Run setup is handled by Maverick Leadership students, who have been preparing since the beginning of the semester to make sure this year’s Color Run would be the best one to date. Junior class co-president Mutong Niu explains the extensive planning process for the Color Run. 

“More from a logistical standpoint of when it’s happening and what is going to be going on, … we start planning more in detail starting in January,” Niu said. “That can include more division into committees so that we can focus on more detailed plans of what will be happening and who we are partnering with. There are so many people that are included in this that work so hard behind the scenes in order for the Color Run to be a success.”

Will Webster, 10, was part of the original Make-A-Wish committee in January and helped in the early process of setting the event. 

“I was mainly in charge of all volunteers and getting everything set up,” Webster said. “I contacted the food trucks [as well] … so I was in charge of a lot of the organizational side.”

While Maverick Leadership does so much in order to ensure a successful Color Run, they couldn’t do it without the help of all the volunteers who contributed so much to the Color Run. 

“The amount of volunteers that we [had] … allowed us to do so much more … because there were so many people helping put things together and on top of that Liam was also a great wish kid,” Wimberly said. “He is very involved. He loves seeing everybody, and I think the fact that people got to meet him and learn a lot more about who he was made people more excited to be present.”

The importance of the Color Run stems outside of just the fun of it all. The Color Run is an opportunity for the community to get involved in a meaningful cause that Mavericks hold near and dear. 

“I believe the Color Run is so important to both our community and our school because of how it brings us together. Emerson as a school has such an amazing sense of school spirit and coming together to grant our wish helps build that bond,” Niu said. “The Color Run is an opportunity where we can invite the rest of our community to join us including feeder schools and businesses around us. Working together shows the strong bond we as students are able to create to the community around us.”

The Color Run is no simple task and required attendance from some of the leadership team early to help with set up and all things leading up. 

“Some of us had to get there at 7 a.m. in the morning and then start working with the walkie-talkies set up to move everything. 8:15 a.m. was when all of the vendors started to come to set up. After we started the run, people had the rest of the time to play yard games and get food [from the vendors],” Wimberly said.

Webster believes that the Color Run is a great way to bring out good in people and [gather] a group of people who want to help make a difference.

“Everything we do is for him, and I just think that’s what makes it so great,” Webster said. “It just shows people are genuinely excited to help a kid in need. I just love to see that and it’s always so special to see a community coming together.”