More than 400 runners, walkers and community members turned out in Wyomissing last Sunday for Fitzy's Halloween 5K Run, the 22nd annual edition of an event organized by a foundation that says it has raised more than $400,000 for the Berks community. This year, that mission reached Orlando Davila and Caroline Vasquez, whose 19-month-old son Matteo has spent much of his short life in and out of hospitals.
The run is hosted by Lauren's Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2005 in memory of Lauren Fitzgerald, who died that year at age 20 from complications related to a brain tumor. According to the Reading Eagle, the race honored Lauren's memory while raising money for scholarships, brain tumor research, and expenses for families dealing with serious illness. The foundation describes itself as a nonprofit and identifies Michael Fitzgerald as a founder.
This year's event featured a costume contest, a health services fair, a kid zone, a silent auction and a lunch buffet, the Reading Eagle reported. Roughly 600 participants turned out for the 2021 race, per the Reading Eagle's earlier coverage of the event.
A Toddler's Difficult First Year
Matteo, the Reading Eagle reported, has a rare kidney disease and will need a transplant following his second birthday. He spent the first 13 months of his life receiving treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and now contends with seizures, a form of cerebral palsy, and a dependence on a ventilator, according to the paper's reporting.
His mother, Caroline Vasquez, works as a healthcare professional at Tower Health, while his father, Orlando Davila, left his job to help care for his son, the Reading Eagle reported. The couple regularly travels from their Berks County home to Philadelphia for Matteo's dialysis treatments, a routine that the paper said adds up to hundreds of dollars a month in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs.
Foundation Steps In With Direct Assistance
Lauren's Foundation gave financial assistance directly to Davila and Vasquez, agreeing to pay off the remaining balance on the family's auto loan and to cover their auto insurance fees through 2026, according to the Reading Eagle.
That kind of support traces back to the foundation's stated purpose. The nonprofit's own materials describe its work as providing financial assistance with living expenses to families caring for loved ones with brain tumors or other serious illnesses. Michael Fitzgerald, who organizes the race alongside his wife Sorita, has said the foundation operates with no payroll or compensation expenses, calling it in a prior statement a 100% volunteer nonprofit.
In 2024, its Fitzy's Halloween Event, the 20th annual edition, drew more than 400 people to the West Reading Playground and raised over $25,000, according to the foundation's own report on that race. Since its founding, Lauren's Foundation says it has raised more than $400,000 for the Berks community.
