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Runners support campaign to prevent and
treat drug abuse
November 10, 2009
BY AMY LAVALLEY, POST-TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT
The crowd of more than 200 runners and
walkers participating in Manda's Race
cheered when they found out the pace car for
the 5K event, a gold 1967 Chevy Impala
driven by Porter County Sheriff David Lain,
was impounded two years ago in a drug
seizure. It seemed only fitting for the
fund-raiser sponsored by Community Action
Drug Coalition and named for Manda Spitler,
who died in 2002 of a heroin overdose at age
20. "(The race) brings attention to the
biggest scourge that our society deals
with," Lain said. "Substance abuse affects
virtually every family in the United
States." This was the sixth year Mann
Spitler, Manda Spitler's father, put
together a fundraiser for drug abuse
prevention and treatment. The past two
years, the event included runners and
walkers. Spitler, who found his daughter
shortly after she overdosed in the family's
Valparaiso home, said the number of race
participants grows each year. "What
also continues to grow is the number of
deaths in Porter County directly and
indirectly related to drugs," Spitler said.
"This event keeps reminding us we have to be
ever-vigilant, and it gives us some money to
direct to prevention and treatment programs,
and that's really our goal." Most of the
$5,000 raised last year went to
Chesterton-based Frontline Foundations,
which targets treatment for 18- to
25-year-olds. "It's a key age. It's what I
call the 'death zone' because it's where we
see the most fatalities," Spitler said.
Despite the solemn tone of the race's
mission, the event itself, held on Halloween
at Chesterton Intermediate School, featured
a fair amount of levity. Some runners and
walkers donned costumes, or at least festive
headgear or other attire, against the chilly
temperature, which hovered around 40
degrees. Kelly Lyp, 12, dressed as a clown,
complete with brightly striped tights. Her
mother, Jody Lyp, was a little more subdued,
with a black mask edged with silver
sequins. The pair, from Valparaiso,
participated last year and did it again
because, Jody Lyp said, "it's a great
cause." Doing drugs, Kelly said, "could harm
your health and is bad." The event has been
an eye-opener for the family. "Seeing Mann Spitler and his face
and the devastation he's been through, it's
a good thing for the kids to see," Jody Lyp
said. "Making bad decisions doesn't just
affect you -- it affects your whole
life."Mann Spitler takes a moment to chat
with runners at Manda's Race, named for his
daughter. |
