In 2010, when Colby Virtue was a Junior at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, he organized a FunRun Walk with his peers that raised $5,000 for MIRA USA. Colby had a hand in everything from the design of the tee shirts and sign-up sheets to the layout of the course. This event was a wonderful way to rally students behind a great cause and to have some fun while doing it. It also set a benchmark for future efforts.

This year Colby brought his winning formula to the Sandhills where he recruited organizers Emily Christaldi from Union Pines High School and Evan and Landon Sherwood from Pinecrest High to recreate the FunRun, as a challenge to the school raising the most money for MIRA. The students excelled with Colby’s encouragement, and raised over $8,000 with Pinecrest High School edging out Union Pines for the “Devon Cup”, a beautiful perpetual trophy that will reside at Pinecrest High until next year’s challenge.

To encourage high school and college students to organize similar benefit FunRuns for MIRA we have created the Colby Virtue Service Award which includes a $250.00 scholarship to an event’s organizer. If there are multiple organizers, the award will be apportioned accordingly. We invite any student interested in organizing a similar event for MIRA to contact us at the office at 910-944-7757. Thanks to Colby, we can offer you some good advice!

We feel the Colby Virtue Service Award is a fitting tribute to a young man who saw a need and took the initiative to address that need in a creative manner. Best of luck at Ole’ Miss, Colby, from all of your friends at MIRA USA.