Normally held on the last Saturday in July, Cooper’s Run has joined with Orem’s Summerfest to help support the local community and Orem’s Emergency Medical Service crews. Now in its eighth year, the community 5K walk/run event will be one of the highlights of the festival, helping to raise funds for first-responders and Cooper’s Foundation, Inc., which seeks to help local families and causes.

“We’re were really excited that Orem City would ask us to join in with them, so that we can make our immediate community better through doing Cooper’s Run — through bringing people together and helping people who are in need,” said Jana Lynn Kofford, co-founder of Cooper’s Foundation and mother of Cooper Kofford, for whom the organization was named. “It’s about family and community and having a day where we can celebrate and feel a real sense of unity in our city.”

Cooper’s Run began in response to a tragic driveway accident in 2009 that took the life of Cooper Kofford, who was then 4 years old. The following year, Jana Lynn and her husband Quinn Kofford organized the event with the help of their family in remembrance of their son. Wanting to create something positive from the accident, they sought to help the local community that had supported them through the difficult time.

The Foundation’s mission is to “support those that protect the community from physical and emotional harm.” They’ve done so, year after year, by assisting local causes, like helping to raise money for a new K-9 Unit for the Orem Police Department and annually providing scholarships through the Cooper’s Foundation to low-income families for the Learning Dynamics Preschool, where Cooper attended.

As part of Cooper’s Run, the Foundation also honors a member of Orem’s public safety department for extraordinary work, performing it with “compassion, love, respect and reverence.” This is a tradition that will continue with Summerfest as the city and the foundation will both honor first responders during special events at the festival.

“We’re honored to be a part of Orem and their celebration, because Orem and the EMS crews have become very dear to us through our experience with losing Cooper,” said Kofford. “We will never be the same because of how they affected our lives and so we want to, in turn, give back to them.”

Cooper’s Run will take place on Saturday morning, June 10. The route will be different from years past, starting and ending at Scera Park. While the Koffords expect the turnout to be smaller this year because of the changes, they’re hoping this will be an opportunity to grow and continue helping the local community.

“We think it’s perfect because we’ll be able to continue honoring Orem and the EMS,” said Kofford. “And we want to keep benefiting Orem with these funds.”