Hundreds of runners participated in the inaugural Amerant Bank 5k to benefit United Way Miami Saturday morning.
The proceeds from the race will benefit United Way’s nearly 100 activities and more than 50 agencies that partner with the organization.
United Way is an organization that focused on education, financial and health initiatives in South Florida. They’ve been doing so for nearly 100 years.
“Two years from now we’ll be celebrating our 100-year anniversary, we need to think about the next 100 years and how we’re going to keep this organization going, keep helping the community as much as we can,” said Joe Zibizarreta, United Way Miami CEO. “Making sure they have the resources that they need in education, health, financial services that we can provide.”
United Way has hosted a race of this kind for more than a decade, but this is the first partnership with Amerant Bank where the financial institution is the top sponsor.
The bank’s CEO Chief of Staff, Silvia Larrieu, says being financially literate and fit is just as important as being healthy.
“Through being healthy, and making these decisions typically you’re making a more informed decision, and you’re giving it thought,” said Larrieu. “For us running, and you always hear in the running world, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. It’s not about doing it once. It’s about staying in the course, the pacing cadence, and when you’re dealing with finances it’s important to always have a long-term plan.”
The partnership has the stamp of approval from Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago.
“It doesn’t come as any surprise that Amerant Bank and United Way have partnered up because it’s just a symbiotic relationship that makes a lot of sense,” said Mayor Lago. “As you can tell, there are hundreds of employees, family members of those employees, and members of the community that are here not only to support Amerant but more important to support United Way and the causes that United Way make possible.”
