10/15/2026
Long post, but I was emailing a potential sponsor about who we are and what we do and thought…maybe you’d like a good read to know more about us too, so I’m sharing what I wrote!
Dear possible future interested sponsor or person interested in registering for our race,
We host an annual run in Katy, off of 99 and i-10 at the University of Houston campus. It will be our 2nd year hosting it at this location, but our 10th year hosting our annual run! The run is called the Smilin' Rylen Run. Our race is named after and in honor of our son Rylen who earned his angel wings in 2017, after a short battle with Bacterial Meningitis. Despite him only being 13.5 months old, he was able to save 5 lives through organ donation. So, our mission is to raise awareness on the topic of Organ Donation and help families in crisis.
With the funds we raise from our race, we gift them back to the wonderful organizations that took care of our family during our hardest times: LifeGift, Ronald McDonald House, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Bo's Place, and Emma's Hugs. The last one is an organization that provides parking passes to families in the Houston Medical Center, and when they closed their doors in October 2024, we took over, renaming it the Smilin' Rylen Parking Passes. To date, we have provided 580 parking passes to families, so they can park for up to a week for FREE in the Houston Medical Center, at no cost. It is a beautiful gift.
Over the past 9 years, the foundation has been able to gift back over $410,000 back to these organizations, and our hearts have been overjoyed to be able to keep Rylen's legacy alive in the process. To give back to our community in his honor has truly been healing and an honor for our family.
That is a lot about us, but if you want to read more, we have a website you can visit, that also has more information and pictures: www.smilinrylenfoundation.org
A sponsorship guide is on our website if you would like to look it over and see if there is a level that might be a fit for you and your business/family! It would be so neat to have yall out as a booth at our race, but many opt to just be a sponsor and not host a table, which is also an option. Some other perks depending on your level, if you choose to be a part of our BIG 10th year, is: logo on the back of our race shirt, social media shout out (facebook, and newsletter/email), option to place promotional materials in our race bags (minimum of 500), and free race tickets if you do a level of $1,000 or more. We're open and flexible to ideas also, so if there is something else you had in mind, just let us know!
We'd love for yall to consider creating a team, inviting your little friends, as it is family and kid friendly! Food is donated from the community, and we have face painting, balloon art, music, and this year, we will have a pancake artist!
We have a 1 mile, timed 5k/10k. All participants get a race shirt, race medal, and a swag bag with all kinds of goodies! Plus we do awards for largest team, largest fundraiser, and overall age group winners which are also listed on our website! Oh, I forgot to mention that our race is April 24th, 2027! It's a Saturday morning!
I shared a lot of information, and I did jump all over the place, but I wanted to make sure you had some background information of our foundation, how it would or could work for you as a sponsor if you're possibly interested (look over the sponsor guide, and let me know which level might interest you, by just emailing me), and then also sharing with you some information about the actual race in case you or others want to register. Our registration is actually live now from our website! Bonus: We have a virtual option in case you can't make it in person and we will still send you a race shirt and medal in the mail, which makes sure you are still supporting us from afar on that day!
www.smilinrylenfoundation.org
The Smilin' Rylen Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness about organ donation and to assist families in crisis.
