Sunday, September 18, 2011 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 5 Caitlin McGuire's friends won't let her memory die “Cait’s Quest” benefits will help pay off murdered gyn's student loans. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com “Cait’s Quest,” a nonprofit or- ganization dedicated to raising awareness about domestic vio- lence, arose through tragedy this year. The organization honors the memory of Caitlin McGuire, 24, a Dallas High School graduate who was murdered in February by her boyfriend before he took his own life. Four of McGuire's friends — Jo- di Feldmann, Nikki Gelso, Holly Gumble and Cory Patton — are now working hard to preserve the memory of their friend’s life and help other women in need. The group will celebrate the end of a series of fundraising events with a 5K walk/run at 10 a.m. today at the Dallas High School track. Gelso, a Dallas native now liv- ing in Philadelphia, said just a month after McGuire’s passing the group decided to rally togeth- er in her honor. “Initially, we wanted to donate all the money to the National Co@@n Against Domestic Vio- — RA TE rE iT Er RE NFU KR tI IUN The “Cait's Quest” 5K Walk/Run will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Dallas High School track. Cost is $25 per person and registration will begin at 8 a.m. Checks can be made payable to Cait's Quest. For more information about Cait's Quest, visit www.caitsquest.com. lence, but then we decided to also help out her family,” Gelso said. She said the group wanted to help McGuire’s family pay back student loans in addition to pro- moting awareness to the wom- en’s cause. McGuire had attend- ed Bloomsburg University and was in the process of attaining a graduate degree in psychology from Marywood University. “When you keep getting bills in the mail after something like that, that’s like another slap in the face,” said Gelso. Once the amount of money needed to pay off the loans is met, the group will donate the excess to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “We began to talk in February about it, but we didn’t open an ac- count until May 2,” said Patton, of Dallas. “We were collecting money but we really didn’t know what we were going to do at that point. It’s been a slow rolling process.” Since June, the women have or- = = THE TEMPERATURE NOT YOUR BILL. At Bryant, we're all about making every dollar work harder. Especially when it comes to your heating bill. That's why we developed our high efficiency gas and oil boilers for steam and hot water, So now you can feel confident that you're getting the most heat from your heating dollar, Whatever it takes.” Financing Available ganized three fundraisers this year for “Cait’s Quest,” including running a concession stand at a 4-H horse show and a raffle at the Luzerne County Fair. The success of the organiza- tion came as a surprise to all the women — it was the first experi- ence any of them had with orga- nizing a nonprofit. “It’s been chaos,” said Gumble, of Dallas. “...But it’s not all about raising money; it’s more about raising awareness and remem- bering her not for what hap- pened, but for who she was. Any- one can tell you she was absolute- ly one-of-a-kind.” Through all the work, the women said the organization has helped them with their personal grieving processes as well. “It’s great to see how many peo- ple are responding and how many people cared about Cait,” said Gelso. : Gumble said the project has al- so made the women closer to McGuire’s family and has opened CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Cory Patton, Holly Gumble and Jodi Feldmann look at photos of their friend Cait McGuire, who was murdered by her boyfriend in February. The three women, as well as their friend, Nikki Gelso, will hold a 5K race in McGuire's memory today at Dallas High School as part of the organization Cait's Quest to raise awareness of domestic violence. them up to a network of friends and family the women didn’t even know McGuire had. “Even through all of this, we've met Cait’s extended family and people we didn’t even know she knew, like her friends at college .. and they all cared so much about her,” she said. Feldmann, Gelso, Gumble and Patton also agreed that, while losing a best friend has been a dif- ficult experience, the contact with other women in similar sit- uations has been a great reward. “One thing I've noticed at the smaller fundraisers is that wom- en came up to us and told us their stories,” said Gumble. “They gave us special thanks for bring- ing awareness to this issue.” far Only shaded J i359 95 | Monday through Saturday 4:30-5:30 PM DINNER TWILIGHT | y SPECIALS Starting at ] Phone: 696-3580 www FIREandICEenTOBYCREEK.com | RT 309, Trucksville - Just North of Sheetz (Former Yesterday's Location) savour kitchen LETS ESURFACING The look of Coriane or granite for up to 70% less! Don’t Replace...Resurface! www.KeystoneResurfacing.com As low as (570) 288-9400 PA066033 STORM GRIPES If Tropical Storm Irene reminded you of the Wicked Witch of the West, wait until your insurance company arrives at the scene. Don’t do it. they are due. 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