McALLEN — With Chewbacca, Droopy McCool, Count Dooku, and a hybrid of a stormtrooper and a bounty hunter looking on in silent and menacing judgment, runners of all ages gathered here at the McAllen Convention Center on Saturday to go on a run under the morning sun and with the power of the police force behind them.
Family, friends and local law enforcement gathered to participate in the Viva McAllen Streets event hosted by the McAllen Crime Stoppers.
The event served as a fundraiser for the crime stoppers but also as a community gathering, not unlike a National Night Out event, to build relationships between residents and police officers.
Star Wars served as the theme. Officers even called the event “May the McAllen Police Force Be With You.”
But there was more to the event than a 5K, 10K and kids fun run with people in Star Wars costumes walking around in character, taking photos with attendees — it was also a backpack and school supplies giveaway.
“The idea here is to provide a family event in McAllen on a cool Saturday morning and right before back to school,” Victor Rodriguez, McAllen police chief, said at the event. “It gives us the opportunity to have a bike ride, a run, a kids run, a bicycle rodeo, school supplies and different things to get everybody together. It’s McAllen Crime Stoppers’ way of returning its favor back to the community.”
There were 1,000 backpacks given away at Saturday’s event, thanks to a partnership between H-E-B and McAllen police.
Karina Rodriguez, 41, attended the event with her 8-year-old daughter, Valentina Barrera, who both enjoy participating in competitive events.
So it was an easy decision for them to attend the Viva McAllen Streets event Saturday, if for nothing else than to try to collect more hardware and best each other.
“We have an internal competition at home to see who gets more medals,” Karina said. “We have a display wall and so far she is ahead of us.”
Valentina was quick to point out how many she’s recently collected.
“I have two from swimming classes,” Valentina said excitedly.
Fourteen-year-old Rebecca Kaufmann, of Reynosa, had participated in the event prior to the pandemic and loved the dynamic and atmosphere.
This year she returned to the event along with her sister to share the experience together.
“It was cool running with my sister and being able to support her as we ran,” Rebecca said.
Her sister, Hazel Kaufmann, 7, concurred without Rebecca needing to use the Jedi mind trick.
“I liked that my sister was here for me,” Hazel said.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
