Inspiring Impact

HFA Events Motivated Maine Mom to Create Museum Fundraiser

By Melanie Padgett Powers, Manager Editor of Dateline
Through Hemophilia Foundation of America’s (HFA’s) fundraising efforts, Lianne Lapierre, of Limestone, Maine, discovered her love of biking and running at age 40.
Lapierre, whose 14-year-old son has severe hemophilia A, took part in HFA’s Team Resilience for the 2019 and 2020 Gears for Good and fundraised for HFA during Disney’s 2021 Princess Half Marathon Weekend. During one of her Gears for Good training rides, she found herself cycling (with permission) on an abandoned runway of a former Air Force base in her town.
“It was on this ride that I thought it would be a pretty neat thing to host some sort of run for my local community on this historic runway,” she said. “I’ve always loved volunteering, and fundraising for HFA came naturally to me. I thought this would be a great opportunity to take all of the fundraising skills I’ve learned over the years and do something fun to help out my own community.”
Lapierre created a 5K/10K race, held over the 2021 Fourth of July weekend, on the runway at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, which was decommissioned in 1994. Runners from all over the country attended in person, and there was a virtual option. So far, they have raised over $1,000 (money is still being donated) for the Loring Air Museum, which pays tribute to the men and women who served at Loring over the years.
Volunteers helped coordinate the event and hand out snacks. There was live music and a surprise National Anthem performance sung by the 195th Maine Army National Guard Band.
“I loved seeing the number of people that came out to support the museum that morning,” Lapierre said. “I honestly wasn’t expecting such a great turnout our first year! We had so much positive feedback afterward, as our small town has never seen anything like this.”
She said she thinks the event will become a part of her town’s annual July Fourth festivities. Her goal next year is to double the turnout and raise even more for the museum.
“My advice to those wanting to create their own fundraiser would be, if your heart is telling you to do it, then go for it, whether it’s a bake sale in the cafeteria at school, a car wash, a community-wide yard sale, or a 10K-the possibilities are endless!