The annual Tina’s 5k Run/Walk that had been scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled due to expected inclement weather. The race began eight years ago to honor the life of Tina Gambino, who died in 2004 after an accident at a Pleasantville High school soccer game.
The race is not all that the Tina Shaina Gambino Memorial Foundation does, however. It offers scholarships, such as the Reflections Scholarship, which awards students $1700 per year for their four years of college. They also receive an additional $178 to represent the amount of money Tina once found in a wallet which she returned back to its owner.
Janice Gambino, Tina’s mother, said the scholarships honor her daughter’s generous spirit. “No child should feel like they can’t celebrate with the others,” Gambino said. “Tina was a person that helped all her friends.” She said in order for Tina’s legacy to live on, kindness and love must be spread.
Gambino said the foundation is largely volunteer driven. Everyone who helps with the annual 5k is a volunteer except the timekeeper, she said.