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October 10, 2011
Alcoa Fjardaal employees in Pink Relay Run to support cancer research
The pink month of October – breast cancer awareness month – was launched in style in Reydarfjordur on Sunday, October 9th, when sixty people, Fjardaál employees, spouses, children and other volunteers, participated in the “Pink Relay Run” around the fjord to raise funds for the East-Iceland Cancer Association. The Alcoa Foundation supported the project with a 3,000 US$ contribution which the volunteers will present to the association.
At 10:00 AM, the first teams of runners started from two spots at the same time, on each side of the mouth of the Fjord: Vattarnes in the south and Little-Breiduvík to the north. Both groups ran towards the town of Reydarfjordur, which nests at the bottom of the fjord, around 65 km in all.
Participants wore pink Alcoa Volunteer T-shirts and other pink clothing, plus neon vests for better visibility. After the run, participants met for pizza in Somasetur, the Fjardaál Employee Association house in the center of Reydarfjordur town.
Three-year-old Embla Ingólfsdóttir was one of the youngest participants. She rode in her trolley, pushed by her mother for most of the way, but as they came closer to the finish line, she got out and ran the last 100 meters. You get away with it when you’re only three!
The oldest participant was Valsteinn Thórir Björnsson, who turned seventy this summer. Valsteinn is not unaccostomed to physical exercise, as he swims daily, takes long walks, long rides on his bike, and regularly visits the gym for a workout.
ACTION and the Alcoa Foundation
The Alcoa Foundation has for the past few years granted around twenty thousand dollars per year to support the so-called ACTION projects in East Iceland. These are projects suggested by an Alcoa employee, involving volunteer work for an NGO or an institution, which means that a group of employees works for at least four hours for the NGO. The amount granted to the NGO depends on the number of participating employees – who are generally accompanied by their families, members of the NGOs and other benefactors.
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