Rock the Quarry raises $50,000 for local nonprofits

Race returns to support Black Mountain Home for Children and Asheville Museum of Science

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
November 17, 2021

Hedrick Industries Vice President of Material Sales Jon Nuemann, second from left, presents a check to the Black Mountain Home for Children. Neumann is one of the organizers of the Rock the Quarry Trail Challenge 5K and Kids Fun Run, which raised $50,000 in September for BMH and the Asheville Museum of Science. Photo by Fred McCormick

The final results of the 2021 Rock the Quarry 5K Trail Challenge and Kids Fun Run were announced months ago, as the grueling race returned from a pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020. However, the real winners of the annual fundraiser were the two area nonprofit organizations it supports.

Approximately 230 runners descended upon the scenic quarry in Grove Stone & Sand in September for the 13th running of the race, which raised over $50,000 for the Black Mountain Home for Children and the Asheville Museum of Science. Organized by Hedrick Industries, owner and operator of Grove Stone & Sand, and sponsored by nearly 40 businesses, the race has distributed over $415,000 to its beneficiaries since 2013.

Trail runners returned to the course at Grove Stone & Sand in September for the 2021 return of the Rock the Quarry Trail Challenge 5K and Kids Fun Run. The event raised $50,000 for Black Mountain Home for Children and the Asheville Museum of Science. Photo courtesy of Hedrick Industries

Jon Neumann, vice president of material sales for Hedrick and longtime race organizer, presented a check for the proceeds to neighboring BMH earlier this month. He was greeted by BMH President Tom Campbell, director of development Sarah Thomas and program director Jimmy Harmon.

“We truly appreciate the continued support from our neighbors at Grove Stone,” Campbell said. “They have been a tremendous blessing to our organization for years.”

The nonprofit organization serves children from the region who have been placed in its care due to unsafe or unhealthy home conditions. It has operated in its current Black Mountain location since 1922, and provided services to more than 150 children from Western North Carolina in 2019.

Funds raised by Rock the Quarry are also distributed to AMOS, which provides educational and exploratory resources, including its Colburn Hall of Minerals exhibit and science, technology, engineering and mathematics lab. The experiential museum opened as the Burnham S. Colburn Museum in 1960, and moved to its current location in 2016.

Dozens of children, ages 10 and under, participated in the Kids Fun Run that preceded the Rock the Quarry Trail Challenge 5K at Grove Stone & Sand in September. The event, which was canceled in 2020, supports two area nonprofit organizations. Photo courtesy of Hedrick Industries

Despite its cancellation in 2020, organizers of Rock the Quarry raised $40,000 for BMH and AMOS. The race returned this year with a modified rolling start, and other precautions related to COVID-19. Top finishers in multiple categories earned cash prizes and engraved wooden trophies, while participants in the Kids Fun Run each received commemorative headbands.