All of the money from Wednesday night’s event benefitted the local charity, which supports OU faculty member Noah Trembly. Clothes were donated to My Sister's Place.
Noah Trembly rolled up the ramp of the Konneker Alumni Center to a chorus of applause. With a microphone held to his communication board, he used his voice synthesizer to pose a question to the audience:
“Who’s ready to strip?”
Members of the crowd, many of whom were already clad in sports bras and swim trunks, deposited their t-shirts and sweatpants into donation bins before taking to the street, ready to participate in the seventh annual “Bare on the Bricks” fundraiser. The Student Alumni Board, with the help of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, hosted the event, which benefited both My Sister’s Place and Keep Noah Rolling, two charities from the Athens area.
“I think being able to ‘bare it on the bricks’ - like literally take off their clothes, is a big appeal,” Student Alumni Board Vice President of Philanthropy Amanda Moline said. “But I think a lot of people really enjoy the aspect of getting to support local Athens charities.”
Though participants such as Zach Hughes, a freshman studying electrical engineering, painted phrases such as “get naked” across their torsos, runners were asked to abide by the “bathing suit minimum” rule.
With his hair sprayed blue and paint speckled across his face, Hughes completed the run as an individual, paying the $10 entrance fee, while others gathered into teams of 10 people and paid $100 to run.
Trembly, who serves as the Outreach Coordinator for Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences at Ohio University, moved to Athens nine years ago, “in search of a better life.” Having been born with cerebral palsy, Trembly is a quadriplegic and navigates the streets of Athens in his electric wheelchair.
“My hopes and dreams have exceeded my expectations,” Trembly said. “I’ve gotten the pleasure of finding a rewarding career that I never imagined I would end up doing until I was lucky enough to be introduced to the amazing staff and faculty of Ohio University.”
All of the money raised at this year’s event went to Keep Noah Rolling, a local charity that hopes to purchase a new van for Trembly, whose current vehicle is “literally falling apart,” Moline said. Trembly said although he originally sought to raise $60,000 through various charity efforts, the goal has recently been adjusted to about $30,000. The clothes students stripped off before the run were donated to My Sister's Place.
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Police cars guided students along the short run, which began in front of the Alumni Center, wrapped around Alden Library and Baker Center, and ended at the Alumni Gateway. Trembly was the first to clear the starting line, leading runners down University Terrace.
It was Phi Kappa Psi philanthropy chair Alex Lincoln, however, who crossed the finish line first, despite having run barefoot down the bricks. He, along with the second and third place winners, was awarded gift cards to Chipotle and Court Street Coffee.
“Did I win?” Lincoln asked as he caught his breath. His fraternity brothers flocked to his side to offer their congratulations. “Well in that case, it feels good.”
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