In just two years, the annual Run for Rigby has earned a place of honor in the ranks of Georgetown institutions. It deserves recognition and praise as an organization that set a noble goal and has actually pursued it successfully. The organization’s recent distribution of fire extinguishers to all off-campus student residences is a fitting and useful way to remember Daniel Rigby, a Georgetown student who perished in a fire on Prospect Street in October of 2004.
The fire extinguishers were purchased with part of the proceeds from the two annual fundraising events held in Rigby’s memory, the 5K Run for Rigby race and the Rigby Ball, which was held for the first time this year. The rest of the funds established and continue the Daniel H. Rigby Scholarship Fund at his old high school, Bergen Catholic High School.
The program has been a success because of the dedication of the students and faculty behind it. Ever since its inception, when the group was able to organize the race only a few short months after Rigby’s death, and to raise an impressive $8,000 doing it, they have proved their mettle.
“When someone says they are going to get something done, it happens,” Cecilia Rose English (NHS ‘07), who helped plan the events, said.
The group’s staying power is also commendable. Though most of the founders of the group were Rigby’s friends, the fire extinguishers were distributed by the sophomore class of the Business Fraternity, students who never even knew Rigby.
Run for Rigby has done a great job in improving awareness of fire safety, a goal of which Rigby would be proud. It is important that students ensure that the race continues even after Rigby’s classmates have graduated. By encouraging participation by younger students the group is already off to a good start. Instead of contributing an un-updated website or a plaque on a park bench, the green shamrocks on fire extinguishers in every off-campus house are a much more poignant memorial.
“It’s a testament to who Dan was,” said Rigby’s friend and Run for Rigby founder Pen Purcell (NHS ‘05).
