Pandemic forcing Baltimore fundraisers to go virtual, drive-though

The “Nun Run” has become a staple on the September calendar, as 589 men, women and children completed last year’s 5K and 1-mile walk on the grounds of St. Mary’s Seminary and University off Northern Parkway in Baltimore in support of the Little Sisters of the Poor and their mission to care for the elderly.

The event, of course, has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Like many other road races, including the Baltimore Running Festival, the state’s largest event of its kind, the seventh annual Nun Run is going virtual, as supporters pay a registration fee, order a commemorative T-shirt and exercise on their own.

Worried about a fall-off in support of the Little Sisters? Don’t be. As of Aug. 14, 687 had registered for this year’s Nun Run, which will be held Sept. 12. That number includes the sisters themselves, who will stretch their legs on their campus in Catonsville, where they operate St. Martin’s Home for the Aged.

Throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore, other religious orders, institutions, parishes and schools have had to make similarly creative adjustments in response to the specter of COVID-19.

For decades, a crab feast and auction has been a major source of donations for Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. Last year, its 36th annual such gathering brought nearly 1,300 people to the Exhibition Hall at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and raised more than $155,000.

This year’s event, Oct. 11, will again be at the Fairgrounds, but strictly with drive-through pick-up. For $75 a person, patrons get six steamed crabs, two ears of corn, pit beef and turkey, wings and sides, as well as paper to crack it on, a mallet, and, presumably for the uninitiated, a bib.

St. Louis Parish in Clarksville used a similar approach for its 142nd picnic, considered the oldest event of its kind in Maryland. On June 27, over three and a half hours, 384 motor vehicles came through a carryout line and left with orders that saw 50 volunteers prepare more than 4,000 pieces of chicken, 220 racks of ribs and more than 1,300 pints of assorted salads.

A chicken dinner in March is among the traditions at St. Joseph in Fullerton, one that it planned to keep going Aug. 30, with a “grab-and-go” fundraiser.

The realities of social distancing were not so kind to St. Alphonsus Rodriguez in Woodstock. It had to cancel its 105th Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 8 and 9. The event typically raises approximately $25,000 for
the parish.

While restaurants, bars, movie theaters and other indoor establishments have suffered during the pandemic, the golf industry is thriving, to the gratitude of the Knights of Columbus, who use “scramble” tournaments as fundraisers.

More than 40 played at Rocky Point in Essex Aug. 14 in support of Pope John Paul the Great Council #13859, which is based at Our Lady, Queen of Peace, in Middle River. The council from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex plays at that same course Sept. 22. Three days later, the Knights from St. Peter the Apostle in Libertytown play Maple Run, in Thurmont.

Catholic Charities of Baltimore, meanwhile, found a positive amid all of the adjustments and cancellations. It typically holds its Dragon Boat races in September, on even-numbered years, but early on during the pandemic, it shifted the event to 2021.

That means the ensuing iteration will fall in 2023, when the agency celebrates the centennial of its founding.

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