When Bay Harbor Islands Vice Mayor Ileene Wallace was told a tight budget would squeeze out any funding for the town's annual 5K run next year, she and the rest of the education committee turned to the private sector -- and hoped for the best.

She hoped local corporations -- typically a dry well during hard economic times -- would provide the $14,000 needed to fund the event, which raises money for the town's Police Athletics Activities League.

It worked. Just days after the education committee mailed out wishful letters to past donors, the checks began to flood in. Total pledges and donations reached $15,850 by Thursday, according to Wallace, who heads the committee.

``This is the only reason it's happening: because people care about children,'' Wallace said.

Donors include Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman and several firms that do business with the town, including Calvin Giordano & Associates, Sherman Law Offices, Weiss Serota & Helfman, DooleyMack Constructors, LMK Pipe Renewal, Tran Construction and others.

``The public really stepped up,'' Town Manager Ronald J. Wasson said.

For the fourth year in a row, runners from across South Florida will be able to attend the 3.1-mile run, which winds through the town's two small islands.

Aside from the springtime community picnic, the Jan. 10 run is the biggest event of the year -- and unlike the picnic, it's open to outsiders.

``Although it's a teeny, tiny run in a teeny, tiny town, the impact is huge,'' Wallace said. ``The purpose of this is to showcase our town and our students.''

Because it is one of the first races of the new year, the 5K has attracted runners from as far north as Boca Raton since its inception in 2007, the year of the town's 60th anniversary.

That year, famed Miami-based neo-pop artist Romero Britto designed the graphic on shirts worn by runners.

Since then, the children at Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor K-8 Center have taken up the task of creating the graphic on each year's shirt.

Students are given a theme and take part in a school-wide competition. The final winner is selected by the town council. This year's motif is ``Movin' and groovin' .''

``This is a great thing,'' Wallace said.

``As a grandmother, if I personally can keep the children challenged and moving forward in a positive direction, that's an asset to all of us.''

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