A Little Gripe about a Local Non-Profit

It's been my experience that it's a losing proposition to criticize non-profit organizations, especially the ones that are directly connected to physically improving...even to the point of saving...people's lives.  Still, I feel the need to call out Life South, a locally based blood bank that has sponsored and organized Gainesville's wonderful Five Points of Life dual marathon/half-marathon races annually during the month of February.  From 2010 through 2022 I ran in six of the half-marathons: great, memorable experiences and each of which I wrote about on this blog.  According to Life South's own website a few years ago (but removed since), one afternoon back around 2005 a couple of Life South employees took a break from work and jogged the few blocks down Newberry Road to the nearby Starbucks (now a Relish restaurant), where Marty Bower worked as store manager.  The three got to talking and Marty suggested that their employer hold a marathon to raise interest in their cause...and reportedly that moment set off the chain of events leading to the annual tradition.  The racecourse stayed the same up until 2020 when they moved both the marathon and half-marathon to southwest of Gainesville, starting and ending at the newly built Celebration Point.  In '21 everything was cancelled due to Covid, but in 2022 they resumed it, going back to the center of Gainesville while altering the course and eliminating the full marathon as an option.  I also ran that event and thought the new course was fine although I was saddened by the end of the 26.2-mile race.  But they decided for this year to hold only a short 5K race and don't seem interested in longer distances anymore.  I think that's sad and disagree with their decision, but they have a right to do so.  What I do have a problem with is the half-assed way they went about not openly informing the general public that those longer races would be no more...and worse, they seem to have erased their online history of past race results, as if they are somehow ashamed of it all.  Yes, I have a BIG problem with that.  It made me wonder whether there was a change in leadership at Life South, and the new persons in charge were negative about running and wanted to take them into a different direction.  And apparently that new direction involves pestering me with annoying, guilt-riding e-mails about the perpetual catastrophic shortage of a certain blood type.  You see, I have donated blood to Life South before...I'd like to again (after first receiving clearance from my doctor), but right now I have a very serious transparency issue with that organization, which at least as I see it has gotten to be pretty arrogant about itself.  It's not just a reaction to them cancelling those races, either.  After all, I've always felt that our fair city...in conjunction with the University of Florida...should instead be the driving forces behind an annual local marathon/half-marathon event, especially considering Gainesville's important historic place as a center for running and local past standouts like Marty Liquori and Frank Shorter...no need to put all the pressure on one non-profit organization.  Still, although I appreciate Life South's involvement with local long-distance running races over the past several years, they could have been more candid about their recent decision to shut them down...