Sweet Home Halloween (Virtual) Halloween 5K Run, Walk or Step

Thursday, October 29 through Saturday, October 31, 2020

www.SweetHomeChicagoHalloween5K.com

(CHICAGO) – OCT. 27 – World Business Chicago, the city’s economic development agency, is helping to lead Sweet Home Chicago (Virtual) Halloween 5K Run, Walk or Step a fundraising effort to benefit Chicago’s performing arts community. PNC Bank is the presenting sponsor; Mars Wrigley and Cinespace Film Studios Chicago are matching grant sponsors.

“The arts and creative community is one of our city’s greatest strengths,” said Andrea Zopp President & CEO, World Business Chicago, adding, “theatre and the arts are such anchors in our city, and in our hearts, it’s hard to not want to help.”

The virtual 5K event will raise critically needed funding for the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund, established to provide grants and subsidies in support of Illinois’ rich and diverse performing arts communities, impacted by the pandemic and related closures of performing arts venues.

“Since March, our extraordinary performing arts community has been particularly hard it by the economic challenges due to COVID-19,” said Scott Swanson, President PNC Bank of Illinois. “This virtual event allows us to safely engage with our friends, families and neighbors and come together in spirit to support our vibrant arts community.”

Inspired by the star-studded Sweet Home Chicago music video, which features such home-town favorites as Jim Belushi, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Keegan Michael Key, Sandra Delgado, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Mantegna and Rhymefest, the Sweet Home Chicago (Virtual) Halloween 5K Run, Walk or Step will offer participants the chance to win a multitude of prizes, including the chance to appear in a special, re-edited edition of the hugely popular music video.

“Chicago is the consciousness of Hip-hop and House Music,” said Rhymefest. “This is the city where the great southern migration gave us the gift of Gospel and created a permanent home for the Blues. Sweet Home Chicago honors and celebrates all those histories.”

Jason Brett, an award-winning American actor, writer and film producer (and producer of the Sweet Home Chicago video) is a co-chair and executive producer of the Sweet Home Chicago Halloween 5K. “Chicago is the most vibrant, dynamic city in the country for live entertainment. There’s an amazing collaborative and creative energy here, driven by the spirit of ensemble that says, “we’re all in this together”. It’s in that spirit that we’re hoping to enlist tens of thousands of Chicagoans, from all over, to participate and show their love and support for our city’s arts, creative and live-performance communities.”

The virtual event is designed to be flexible, to maintain alignment with the city’s pandemic guidelines.

Teams and individual participants can run, walk or step indoors or outdoors, in costume or not.

The event benefits the IL Arts Relief Fund, administered by Arts Alliance Illinois. Sweet Home Chicago (Virtual) Halloween 5K is supported by:

  • Honorary Chair: First Lady Amy Eshleman.
  • Co-Chairs: Jason Brett, Christie Hefner, Rhymefest, Scott Swanson, Anna Valencia, Andrea Zopp.
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