In a matter of days, close to 10,000 runners are expected to stride through local streets when Oakland's annual running festival takes place this Sunday, March 24.

And while the majority will be covering miles for themselves, a small batch of do-gooders are expected to bring in $300,000 for 15 Bay Area nonprofits.

Susan S. Lo, a family practice doctor for Asian Health Services, is a current top fundraiser at $815 raised.

"I'll definitely be running," she said,"running for my team and our work."

Lo has been a family physician at Asian Health Services for 15 years. While she has participated in the marathon since it started four years ago, she says this year will be different - she is running as if her life depended on it, like many of her clients who depend on AHS for health care and advocacy. Lo said most of her clients are immigrants, working poor and elderly.

As runners continue adding miles to their training in order to ward off exhaustion on race day, nonprofits are in full email swing as they work to increase their fundraising running teams. Fewer than the 300 runners pledged by nonprofits were signed up as of Valentine's Day. To meet their fundraising goals, each nonprofit pledged to recruit 30 runners who would each fundraise at least $200. Currently there is no penalty for failure to reach the team size or dollar amounts pledged. But, keeping to the large commitments is a good way to raise brand awareness say the nonprofits that are taking part. 

"Participating is a way for us to promote local healthy habits," said Esperanza Pallana, coordinator for the Oakland Food Policy Council, the only food-focused group taking part in fundraising. This is its first year fundraising through the Oakland Running Festival and members say they hope to raise an ambitious $6,000 by alluring runners with top prizes including a sample-filled edible excursion walking tour and a kayak trip for two among other incentives.

According to Gene Brtalik, Oakland Running Festival race director, the event continues to gain runners, fundraising dollars and raceway support.

"More and more people are seeing this as a positive event for the community," he said. "We have a 10 percent growth in runners this year and we expect a growth in fundraised dollars, too."

Comparatively, in its 12th year, the Baltimore Running Festival, which is organized by the same group, raised $4 million for 30 nonprofits last year.

Who are the groups, what are their fundraising incentives and how can you join? Read on for a quick breakdown of the 15 nonprofits and their running teams.

Running/Fundraising Teams - by current size


GoPublicSchools.org
56 runners recruited
Awards not reported

Great Oakland Public Schools Leadership Center is thrilled to be a part of the Fourth Annual Oakland Running Festival! GO Public Schools is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership, advocacy, and education within the Oakland community so that all our students have the opportunity to attend quality public schools. Our network of thousands of parents, educators, and community members organize campaigns to build the movement for quality schools for all Oakland children. http://www.goleadershipcenter.org/events/GOTeam

Ella Baker Center
54 runners recruited
Awards
$150+ T-shirt
$400+ registration refunded
$1,000 - hoodie  

Top fundraisers will also receive gift certificates and free memberships: Awaken Café, Blue Bottle, Campton Place, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Great Western Power Company, Mama's Royal Café, Oakland Ice, Oakland Marriott City Center Hotel, Wrench Science, and Mua Oakland Bar & Restaurant.

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights gives people skills and opportunities to champion and win positive change for their communities. Over the next decade, the Ella Baker Center aims to reduce our country’s incarceration rate by 50 percent. http://www.ellabakercenter.org/runoakland

Asian Health Services
37 runners recruited
Awards not reported

At Asian Health Services, our mission is to serve and advocate for the Asian community by ensuring access to health care services regardless of income, insurance status, immigration status, language or culture. For 39 years, AHS has been providing primary health care services to low-income families. We currently serve more than 23,500 patients annually in ten different languages. We are looking forward to the opening of our new clinic at 835 Webster in late Spring 2013, which will allow us to address the demand for primary care services in our ever growing patient pool. http://www.firstgiving.com/ahschc/Team-AHSome-2013

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal)
30 runners recruited
Awards

Top fundraisers will be receive a BayLegal T-shirt and water bottle. All runners and volunteers can participate in a get-together the day before the race for Team BayLegal.

Bay Area Legal Aid provides free civil legal counsel, advice and representation to low-income people and women and children escaping domestic violence living in the counties of: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara. jcesario@baylegal.org

Urban Promise Academy (UPA)
30 runners recruited
Awards
$500+ (enough to sponsor a student going to Washington, D.C.) registration refunded

Funds will help send students from Urban Promise Academy to Washington, D.C. Incentives for runners include a training plan, organized weekly runs and a Team UPA running shirt (all coaching and materials generously donated). Urban Promise Academy is an Oakland public middle school in the Fruitvale.  This is their fourth D.C. trip. https://sites.google.com/site/upamarathon  

CALICO
22 runners recruited
Awards

All runners receive a CALICO T-shirt in a performance fabric, can join one training run and a potluck the night before the race to carb, load and mingle. Top fundraisers receive recognition and awards at a One Child At A Time event.

CALICO, the Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing and Coordination Center, has served as a multi-disciplinary hub of police officers, child welfare workers and prosecutors that respond collaboratively to child abuse allegations, hear children’s testimonies and link children and families with vital therapeutic, medical and legal support services in Alameda County. Each year, CALICO conducts more than 700 forensic interviews in Oakland.  The goal of our forensic interviewing services is to minimize the number of times a child must describe his/her abuse, reduce trauma from participating in a child abuse investigation and collect high-quality information that can withstand court scrutiny.  http://www.calicocenter.org

Oakland Rising
20 runners recruited
Awards
$250+ T-shirt
$500+ running track jacket
$150+ raffle tickets, tickets to June’s Young Progressive Party

Oakland Rising has been paving the roads towards increased civic engagement and voter participation in Oakland’s flatland neighborhoods since 2008. Each year, Oakland Rising holds conversations with tens of thousands of Oakland voters urging them to stay involved in the decision-making that impacts our lives. http://www.firstgiving.com/oaklandrising/we-run-the-510-2013

East Bay College Fund
10 runners recruited
Awards not reported

East Bay College Fund is a community-based nonprofit organization that provides college access services, substantial scholarships, mentoring, on-going college counseling and life skills training to East Bay (primarily Oakland) public school students from low income families and communities with historically low college attendance rates. msandreawalker@gmail.com

Oakland Food Policy Council
5 runners recruited
Awards
All get sweatpants and T-shirt; top prizes include: An edible excursion walking tour, kayak trip for two, Baia Pasta Pack

Oakland Food Policy Council -OFPC works to establish an equitable and sustainable food system. The council coordinates between food system sectors; bringing underserved populations to the food policy table and recommending policies for a healthier, more prosperous city. The central purpose of OFPC is to identify and propose innovative solutions to improve local or state food systems, spurring local economic development and making food systems more environmentally sustainable and socially just. http://www.oaklandfood.org

College Track
Team size unknown
Awards not reported

College Track is an educational nonprofit working to increase high school graduation, college eligibility and enrollment, and college graduation rates among students underrepresented in higher education. College Track’s intended impact is to close the achievement gap and create college-going cultures by engaging a critical mass of underserved students in College Track programming, partnering with schools and community agencies, and influencing lasting change by raising awareness for college readiness and access initiatives. http://www.collegetrack.org

APEN
Team size unknown
Awards not reported

APEN generates power for environmental justice with Asian Pacific Americans in California. APEN’s vision is a world where all people have a right to a clean and healthy environment in which their communities can live, work and thrive. run@apen4ej.org

EBASE
Team size unknown
Awards not reported
Discounted registration for runners,  team trainings, meet-ups, and special prizes

EBASE‘s mission is to build a just economy in the East Bay based on good jobs and healthy communities. They connect community, faith and labor groups to advance policies that support low-wage workers and residents of color.  EBASE helps leaders make informed decisions that positively impact disadvantaged Oaklanders during a time of economic inequality. ruibing@workingeastbay.org

SquashDrive
Team size unknown
Awards not reported

Funds will allow 24 Oakland middle schoolers to continue to receive squash instruction and after-school tutoring. In its third year, SquashDrive follows in the footsteps of many successful urban squash programs across the country. https://rally.org/squashdrive

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Team size unknown
Awards not reported

LLS's Team In Training, the world’s first and largest charity sports training program, provides coaching and support for approximately 39,000 people annually to reach their goals at marathons, triathlons, century rides, hikes and cross-country ski events. The society  is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Founded in 1949, we are relentless in pursuit of our mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. http://www.teamintraining.org