If you are ready to put your feet to your faith, First Priority’s 5K, which kicks off on Saturday October 22, is a great place to start. A fun-filled time of fitness and raising funds for the organization will be enjoyed by both children and adults – with warm-up time, the official 5K starting at 7:00 a.m., an awards ceremony and KidZone, where a bounce house and game area await. “We have had a great time with this 5K in the past  – the weather is always beautiful, people get to spend time together with their families and friends and for those interested in the fitness aspect, it’s actually a pretty difficult 5K,” shares Chris Lane, Founder and Executive Director of First Priority.

The organization, which began 13 years ago, was founded with the mission of building a bridge between the campuses of middle and high school students with the church. The goal is to encourage, equip and empower students at every public school campus in South Florida. Clubs at the school are student led and meet every week, with the gospel being shared on a monthly basis.

“Basically, we work with all of the local churches in South Florida and help them connect to the schools of the students in their congregation. We help the students form a club and build a strategy that allows them to bring in other students and friends who aren’t saved. Once the gospel is shared, and if a student decides to give his or her life to Christ, we give them a new believers Bible and help to get them plugged into a local church in their area,” Lane explains. “Currently, we have clubs in just about every middle and high school here in Broward County, every high school in Palm Beach, just about every school in the Treasure Coast area and about 30 schools in Dade County.”

The vision and mission of First Priority is carried out month after month through student led clubs and a strategy known as TEAM.  “TEAM is our on-campus strategy that the students go through monthly. The first week, week ‘T’, is for training. During this week, students are taught how to share their faith and are given resources and tools to help them share it with others. ‘E’ week is for encouraging – basically, we bring in different speakers who challenge students on why they need to share their faith with others,” tells Lane. “‘A’ week is where students are held accountable. They are challenged regarding who they are sharing their faith with. Students are given prayer cards and they write down the names of five friends who they will pray for and they invite a friend to the on-campus meeting the next week. Finally, ‘M’ week begins, which is mission week; this is where everything culminates. During ‘M’ week, an energetic on-campus meeting is given where the gospel is shared and an opportunity is given at the end for students to accept Christ.
After mission week, we begin again at training week.”

Students or parents who want to learn more about First Priority and their Campus Clubs can visit the Campus Clubs page under the About Us section at Firstpirority.cc. Information can also be found there regarding how to set up a club in a middle or high school.

Those interested in getting involved in the First Priority 5K can also visit the website and click on the “Register Now” section. The fee for the 5K is $25.00 for adults and $15 for students under 18 years of age. Children under 10 are free. Race Day registration begins promptly at 6:00 a.m. the day of the event. Registration can also be completed over the telephone by calling the First Priority front office at 954-315-2222.