Run to rebuild fundraiser earns over $200 for wildfire victims.

Left to Right) Elijah Aaron, Jazlyn Ocasio, Nay Thurein Soe, and Bill Koch run during the “Run to Rebuild” fundraiser on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College (SMC), Santa Monica, Calif. This is a fun run fundraiser to raise money for victims of the Palisades Fires. This fundraiser is a collaboration between different clubs at SMC including : Boxing Club, Oaxacans at SMC, Business in Sports, Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Black Colligents, Finance and Accounting Club, and Creator Rewards Club. The person who raises the most money will win an iPad. (Ana Sanchez Venegas | The Corsair)

Juarez (Left), president of the Oaxacans at Santa Monica College (SMC) Club, marks a tally as Jazlyn Ocasio (Right) begins to run her last lap on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College (SMC), Santa Monica, Calif. This is a fun run fundraiser to raise money for victims of the Palisades Fires. This fundraiser is a collaboration between different clubs at SMC including : Boxing Club, Oaxacans at SMC, Business in Sports, Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Black Colligents, Finance and Accounting Club, and Creator Rewards Club. The person who raises the most money will win an iPad. Ocasio completed the most laps, with a total of 30 in an hour. (Ana Sanchez Venegas | The Corsair)

Jazlyn Ocasio runs during the “Run to Rebuild” fundraiser on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College (SMC), Santa Monica, Calif. This is a fun run fundraiser to raise money for victims of the Palisades Fires. This fundraiser is a collaboration between different clubs at SMC including : Boxing Club, Oaxacans at SMC, Business in Sports, Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Black Colligents, Finance and Accounting Club, and Creator Rewards Club. The person who raises the most money will win an iPad. Ocasio ran the most laps in total, she ran a total of 30 laps, or 8 miles in an hour. (Ana Sanchez Venegas | The Corsair)

Santa Monica College (SMC) students took to the starting line at Corsair Field on Morrison track to raise money for victims of the recent wildfires in Southern California on May 15. After two weeks of collecting donations, the Business in Sports Club reported that $264 dollars was raised from runners, but it cost $1,610.58 to put on the event according to Associated Students.

“(Participants) themselves have a cash collection form in which they’ll be giving out to many people who want to donate, depending on how many laps they do run,” said Andre Villavicencio, president of the Business in Sports Club. After counting how many laps they ran, runners would ask donors to donate a certain amount for each lap completed.

“We’ve been planning this fundraiser since fall semester,” Villavicencio said. “We were trying to figure out something (to) fundraise for until we saw the unfortunate incident of the California wildfires.” 

“We decided to make the fun run fundraiser in support of the people who lost their houses, their clothes, everything from the California wildfires,” he said. All of the funds earned were given to the SMC Disaster Relief Foundation.

The Business in Sports Club partnered with Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Black Collegians, Creator Rewards Club, Finance and Accounting Club, Boxing Club and Oaxacans at SMC to host Run to Rebuild. Food from Chick-fil-A and Jimmy John’s was provided to participants halfway through the fundraiser.

The clubs awarded Jazlyn Ocasio with an iPad as she ran the most laps out of all participants. “I knew it was for the fires … but I didn’t know that there was going to be a prize or anything,” Ocasio said. “So I was just running hoping to do better than the time I do with my dog.” She ran eight miles within one hour.