Every November, the Celiac Disease Foundation hosts their annual Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run/Walk, an inspirational, in-person event that raises funds for celiac disease research to accelerate treatments and a cure. This year, to ensure the safety of all involved amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Celiac Disease Foundation has transitioned to a virtual event in the form of a Turkey Trot Virtual Cross-Country Challenge. This transformation of this event was achieved with the help of the dedicated graduate students from Haas Hearts.
Haas Hearts is a consulting and project implementation initiative driven by University of California Berkeley MBAs that provides strategic guidance for nonprofit organizations. “Haasies” take skillsets learned from Berkeley’s world-class curriculum and apply them to help organizations strengthen their impact. The Celiac Disease Foundation was pleased to be matched with a remarkable consulting team from Haas who offered valuable, solution-oriented insights and strategies.
“It was incredibly gratifying to work with the Celiac Disease Foundation to further its mission, particularly in this unprecedented time when both strategy and creativity are key,” said Shannon Eliot, Haas MBA student. “This collaboration provided a wonderful opportunity to put our skills into action for a very worthy cause.”
The Celiac Disease Foundation is grateful for Haas Hearts’ tremendous efforts in ensuring the annual Turkey Trot would be a success as a virtual event during unprecedented times. “We truly value our recent collaboration with Haas Hearts,” states Laura Boone, Celiac Disease Foundation Director of Development. “They eagerly developed innovative strategies that are already generating positive feedback for our 2020 Turkey Trot and will be helpful for the Foundation’s future initiatives, as well.”
While this year has been challenging for all, the Celiac Disease Foundation is proud to be able to host the 2020 Virtual Turkey Trot to bring families and friends together, regardless of location, in a unified mission to raise funds for celiac disease research. We invite you to learn more and register here.
About Haas Hearts
Haas Hearts is a Haas School of Business at University of California Berkeley student volunteer initiative providing consulting and project implementation to nonprofits. The program stemmed from the drastic changes that COVID-19 brought across businesses and organizations. Over the course of 16 weeks in summer, Haasies use this opportunity to apply their MBA skill sets to support nonprofits in their missions to better our society. The first year of Haas Hearts volunteers piloted the program with 13 projects across nonprofits covering education, land trust, and animal shelter. For more information, visit haashearts.com
About the Celiac Disease Foundation
The Celiac Disease Foundation is the nation’s leading disease advocacy organization for celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Since its founding in 1990, the Celiac Disease Foundation continues to champion many battles: federal recognition of celiac disease and labeling standards for gluten-free foods, improved diagnostic tools, widespread patient and provider education, access to mainstream gluten-free products, and the need for better treatments and a cure. For more information, visit.celiac.org.