NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – South Florida is home to 2,000 survivors of the Holocaust, and of those about 600 live below the poverty line.
When Lior Levy-Minkowitz learned that those statistics are reflected across the country, she decided it was time to take action and organized the inaugural Shoah 5K Holocaust Family Run/Walk, which took place Sunday.
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The event was attended by about 400 people, including a few holocaust survivors.
A majority of the proceeds from the event will be going to the Jewish Community Services of South Florida to help those survivors in need by giving them access to health aides, housekeeping, counseling, food, care management and financial assistance.
"We were honoring the local Holocaust survivors," Levy-Minkowitz said.
Organizers said they wanted to honor the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust and to pay tribute to the survivors with the run.
"My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor," Levy-Minkowitz said about her grandmother, who was in Auschwitz. "The holocaust was a big part of my upbringing."
Levy-Minkowtiz gave herself 11 weeks to create the run.
She hopes that other communities will put on similar runs and that awareness will continue to be spread.