SPIN to run its 1st OC Marathon

When Jean Wegener, executive director of the Costa Mesa nonprofit Serving People in Need leaves work each night, the phones at the office are always still ringing these days.

“And they never stop ringing, all night,” she said.

The charity, which offers homelessness-prevention programs and other assistance for people in crisis, has seen over the past few years a 65% increase in calls that it receives from families in financial trouble, Wegener said.

Volunteers for SPIN will take to the streets today with the OC Marathon to raise money for families teetering on the brink of homelessness.

“With the economy being down, we’ve had to come up with some creative ways to raise funds,” said Elissa Goodwin, a bookkeeper for SPIN, who is also organizing the charity’s marathon fundraiser.

The 27-member SPIN team is running in today’s marathon honor of David Griffin, an Iraq war veteran and former Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy. Griffin was recently diagnosed with leukemia. He and his wife, Rebekah, and their children, ages 3, 2, and 1, are now having problems making ends meet.

The family is emblematic of the middle- and working-class families that have fallen on hard times because of economic downturn. It is these families that now keep the phones tied up at SPIN, Wegener said.

“When you think of the homeless, most people think of the person you see standing on the side of road,” she said. “It’s the person who sits in front of you at church, the person who used to pull out of their driveway at the same time as you, only they’re not there any more.”

The group is participating in the Orange County Marathon for the first time this year in hopes of raising $30,000 to help local families.

The group had raised a little more than $11,000 toward its goal as of Saturday afternoon.

Proceeds from the SPIN team’s run will go to help the Griffins and other families like them get back on their feet and find permanent housing.

How To Help

For more information on SPIN and to donate to the SPIN OC Marathon Team, visit www.active.com/ donate/teamspin.