Sponsor Kyle’s Run - SAFE+ Happy Trails

My name is Kyle Bergin and I have had on my bucket list to run a full marathon for a long time.  I am taking the plunge to run the full Dallas Marathon on December 15th.  In my training program, I spend countless hours and hundreds of miles running along the Trinity Trails.  I heard about the SAFE+ Happy Trails non-profit organization that's mission is to raise awareness and money to make the Trinity Trails a safer place.  The money goes to help install "Safe Poles" along the trails that will help give peace of mind to the thousands of walkers, runners and those just enjoying community with others a SAFE place to be.  As part of my training program, I will be running the Day of The Dead half marathon on October 20th along Marine Creek Lake (also part of the Trinity Trails project), a 20 mile race in the Fort Worth Marathon on November 10th (the route is along the Trinity Trails) and finally the full 26.2 mile Dallas Marathon on December 15th.  Please join me in supporting this wonderful cause of SAFE+ Happy Trails.  Any donation will be appreciated!

Happy and Safe running,

Kyle

Launched in 2021, with a mission of making public trails in Fort Worth (and beyond!) safe for anyone walking, running, or cycling, SAFE+Happy Trails is building awareness of the need for additional surveillance of public trails. A 501c3 nonprofit, SAFE+Happy Trails, Inc. is partnering with TRWD and the City of Fort Worth, working on the installation of emergency call posts along the Fort Worth Trinity Trails with plans of moving into other public trails of other cities as well — saving the world, one trail at a time.

SAFE+Happy Trails was founded because one Saturday afternoon in September 2017, a man attacked and brutally assaulted Jesca while she was walking alone on the Fort Worth Trinity Trails. She has lasting injuries that have changed her life, but not limited her purpose. 

More than three years after she was attacked and after learning of another woman being attacked on the Trinity Trails, Jesca drove home in tears, so angry and saddened someone else had been hurt, that nothing had been done to prevent it. This. Had. To. Stop. Something had to change. Before she hadn’t believed herself powerful enough to do anything, but she realized she had to try. Maybe this had happened to her so it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. Determined that this would not happen again, Jesca and her dad founded SAFE+ Happy Trails, Inc. with the help of their family and friends who poured their hard work into the project without asking for anything in return. 

Working with the Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District, SAFE+Happy Trails is building strong foundations as a nonprofit organization. The Board of Directors is expanding and organizing by bringing on three new board members, including Betsy Price, former Mayor of Fort Worth, who has said, “Safe and Happy Trails is a wonderful project. This is a great opportunity to make our trails better and keep our community thriving and healthy.” 

According to statistics, women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities are most vulnerable when using public trails. SAFE+Happy Trails has a singular purpose: to enhance safety and peace of mind on the trails by placing emergency call posts every quarter-mile along the Trinity Trails and working to implement sound activated posts that connect to operators at Fort Worth’s Real Time Crime Center, eliminating the need for access to a cell phone and when seconds count. When Jesca was attacked, she called 911 operator, but her attacker threw her phone into the Trinity River before they could determine her location. It takes 10 minutes on the call before a cell phone can be tracked.

Used on college campuses and in communities throughout the United States, emergency posts that have a camera recording activity have helped stop crimes from happening in real time. They also serve as a deterrent to crime. One network of emergency posts in Illinois has almost eliminated crime in that area; some cities in California have also seen significant drops in violence. 

Because she has experienced what SAFE+Happy Trails is working hard to stop, Jesca has decided to tell her story make a difference, because even one attack is one too many.

Please consider how you might help SAFE+Happy Trails as we work to empower others to walk and hike and bicycle and RUN for FUN and NOT in fear!