Progress on Hospice of Washington County’s new facility should put a spring in runners’ step for their 22nd annual 5K walk/run this Saturday.

Hospice staff, volunteers, and family broke ground in June for the northside addition that will replace their current south-facing building that has repeated floodplain issues. Hospice Director Katrina Altenhofen says construction has been steady, “The slab and foundation has been poured, the outer walls as well as the roof are up, they’re working on the inner walls and all of the doors. So we’re seeing a lot of great progress to that which has been phenomenal. As staff we’re constantly looking outside, to see what are they doing today, and which trucks are in the lot so that means they must be doing this or doing that.”

The new building is expected to be completed in January, and they are still fundraising for the project which costs around $1.5 million. A portion of the proceeds from their 5k will go towards that price tag in addition to sustaining their free services to patients in their seven-county region. Office Coordinator Stephanie Heisdorffer says she’s excited to bring everybody back this year following their virtual run last fall, “The beautiful part is that we also have photos of all of our loved ones that have passed before and anybody they still can still have a picture of a loved one that wants to send me I can get one on the route. That costs nothing to the families and that stays with us through every year after that. So every year you can come back to the 5k and spot out your loved one along the trail as well.”

As part of the Kewash Nature Trail is closed for paving, this year’s route will go north on the trail past Willow Pond to the Kirkwood Regional Center and then back to the rocket slide in Washington. For more information on the run, visit here.