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Andrej 5K Raises more than $17,000 in Honor of Late RHAM Teacher, Eastern Graduate

by Vania Galicia

Willimantic, CT (10/09/2019) — The second annual Andrej 5K Fun Run/Walk, held Sept. 28, has raised more than $17,000 as of Oct. 10 in honor of late Eastern graduate Andrej Cavarkapa '09. More than 150 people showed up for the brisk Saturday morning event at Mansfield Hollow State Park in support of Cavarkapa's friends and family and to keep his love of running alive. Donations continue to trickle in; all proceeds will go to the Andrej Cavarkapa Memorial Endowed Scholarship.

Cavarkapa was a science teacher at RHAM high school in Hebron who passed away in January 2017 while jogging near is West Hartford home.

Heather Lepper '12, a close friend and event organizer, commented: "The event was simply incredible. It was an emotional day but the love and support from all those who attended really made it special." In addition to the 150 in attendance, runners from six other states and two other countries ran remotely.

"It's nice to have this as an annual memorial run for Andrej and it gives everyone an opportunity to come together and celebrate his life once a year," said Lepper. "It means so much to us to see all of those whom he had an effect on come and run in his honor."

The memorial scholarship represents one of Cavarkapa's many passions as a teacher: that of making education accessible to all students. He was a science teacher at RHAM High School, where he was known as "Mr. C" and passionate about physics and chemistry.

His father, Branko, a business professor at Eastern, commented: "It is about education and it is about making education more affordable for others. It is difficult to talk about him now in the past tense. He was caring, he loved other people, he was a loyal friend, all who knew him would agree."

Awards were given at the event to the first and second male and female runners, first and second walkers and top dog. Andrej's friends and family plan to continue the annual event to maintain Cavarkapa's legacy. "We are looking forward to planning the third annual race for 2020 and continuing to share his story and the impact he had on everyone he met," said Lepper.

To donate to the Andrej Cavarkapa Memorial Endowed Scholarship, visit https://ecsufoundation.com/andrej5k/.

Written by Vania Galicia

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving 5,200 students annually at its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 29 other states and 20 other countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 65 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in an array of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 30 public universities in the North Region by U.S. News and World Report in its 2019 Best College ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review nine years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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