Last year, a local Christian mission organization used money from a morning charity run to help complete a medical facility in rural Kenya. This year, that same organization hopes to turn the money raised into fresh water, dams and a resource to enrich the lives of an entire Kenyan community.

The second annual Integrity Worldwide Run for Kenya 5K will be held Saturday, Oct. 1 at Bloch Park and organizers hope for an even bigger turnout than the one they received in the event’s inaugural year.

“We were so pleased with the response last year and are so excited for this year’s run,” said Alan Hicks Jr., executive director of Integrity Worldwide.

The registration fee of $25 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and younger is the same as last year’s event as is the route that will take runners through Old Live Oak Cemetery and portions of downtown Selma.

But this year, the mission for the monies raised is changing.

“Ultimately we want to get into long-range projects and community building,” Hicks said of the group’s efforts near Meto, Kenya. “This year, though the money raised from this run will go to build a dam for the community.”

Hicks said the area the organization serves is battling through a horrific drought, and by building a dam, residents will be able to collect water from the few torrential rain days, giving them a water supply that could last for months.

“For them, their whole livelihood depends on water,” Hicks said. “Without it they have nothing, their livestock is practically their currency.”

He also said the organization is looking at developing ways to provide children in the area an opportunity to attend secondary school — or high school-level education — which many in the area cannot afford.

“Most of the children are able to go to primary school, but many do not go beyond that because they cannot afford to do so,” Hicks said. “We are looking at scholarship opportunities to help pay for children to go to secondary school and then on to college at the University of Nairobi.”

He said he learned a troubling statistic from the area they service — an area encompassing nearly 50,000 people – that zero percent of the population have finished college.

“That’s like looking at an area with the same number of people as Dallas County and saying none of them have gone to college,” Hicks said. “Right now we have two children we are sponsoring at the University of Nairobi and 10 others we are sponsoring through secondary school. And, we are looking for those who would want to help us in sponsoring more children.”

For more information on the charity race or information on Integrity Worldwide, call 526-1238. Hicks said registration for the race will continue all the way up until the day of the race and up until the starting pistol.

Those interested in more information about Integrity Worldwide can also log on to www.integrityworldwide.com.