"Race to Remember" is a non-profit organization formed in 2009 to honor our past and present veterans and first responders. Race to Remember is a military nonprofit; “Race to Remember” is the name of our nonprofit which was founded in 2009 by Claudia Cardenas after she unexpectedly lost her fiancé SFC Jason Vinyard a 20 year Army veteran stationed out of Ft Vancouver. Claudia whom had always been
a runner was training Jason to participate in the Portland Marathon in October 2009 to Honor our Veterans. After losing Jason in June 12, 2009 Claudia was overwhelmed with grief but knew that Jason would not want her to quite so Claudia gathered their friends, family and Jason’s military unit and fished the mission and "RACE TO REMEMBER" was born. The purpose of “Race to Remember” is to make sure that our communities NEVER FORGET the sacrifice(s) that our brave men and women of the military and first responders make to protect our Freedom. We currently organize three races a year Race to Remember for Memorial Day(in May), RACE TO REMEMBER - United We Stand for 9/11 and RACE TO REMEMBER - Veterans Day (11/11). In addition to racing we organize and participate in other events that honor and support our Veterans like military care package drives, Honor Flight flag escorts, Honor the Fallen Events, as well as providing opportunities for our local youth to better understand the true meaning behind the Veteran and Memorial Day Holidays. Our ultimate goal is to build partnerships with other organizations in our communities and throughout the nation to continue to honor and support our past and present Veterans and first responders. As a long term goal we are also working towards establishing a scholarship for the children and spouses of fallen veterans.
