By Darrell Halen
Staff Writer

Observer/Bruce Preston Rona Boucher, left, and her son, Todd Boucher, warm up for a 5K road race sponsored by the Pelham Police Department. Proceeds from the race will be used to help raise awareness and battle domestic violence.

Debra and Mark Corbett are regular runners. But the five kilometers the Pelham couple ran in town on Saturday, Oct. 7, was for more than staying fit.

The pair raised money to help the victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

The Corbetts participated in “United Against Domestic and Sexual Violence,” a 5K run/walk-a-thon.

The annual event heightens awareness of the abuse and raises money to help local victims. Grouped in front of the Pelham Library on the town’s village green, this year’s walkers and runners – 96 in all – dashed off with the sounding of a police motorcycle siren.

There were adults and kids. Parents pushing strollers. Dog owners walking their pets.

“We’ll take anything and everyone,” said Det. Anne Perriello, one of the event’s organizers, with a smile.

Among the runners were Susan Gillis and Pauline McKinnon, both of Hudson, who each came for their first time. Gillis lived in Pelham 20 years before moving.

“It’s good to come back and give to the town,” she said. “We run every weekend. This is another run (for us) and we give to a good cause.”

Participants were greeted with applause when they crossed the finish line. Some exchanged high-fives when they were done.

Not only did people attending the event raise money, they also learned how domestic and sexual abuse has impacted its victims and what services are available to those who have been hurt.

Displays and information were placed outside the police station.

One moving display is the Clothesline Project, a series of T-shirts featuring words written by victims and others.

“Control, manipulation and domination are not family values,” read one shirt. “End the fear.”

Nearby, another shirt featured images of a bear, rainbow and the sun, along with the words, “Hugz not hitz!!”

“Love should be caring, sweet, happy, romantic, fun,” read another shirt. “Love shouldn’t be scary, dangerous, painful, controlling. Stop domestic violence.”

Another display was a large painted board, created by some Pelham High School art students, that featured the image of woman with her arms raised, as if to fend off an assault.

On it were the anguished words of the victim: “Why me? I need an angel. Please, God, no more. He said he was sorry. He wouldn’t do it again. I told them I fell down. What did I do to make him hurt me?”

Proceeds from the fundraiser support two organizations that help victims: A Safe Place, which has an office in Salem, and Bridges, which is based in Nashua.

Both organizations provided material for people to pick up and read.

Bridges, which helped 2,200 people in 2005, was represented by Laura Maistrosky, its educational coordinator and Jennifer Vincent, its shelter manager.

“We come to show we’re grateful and provide information so people know who we are and what we do,” Maistrosky said.

The shelter Vincent manages is Janice’s House, named after Pelham’s Janice Chasse, who was a longtime board member and supporter of the organization before she died last summer.

The event also featured antibullying messages. Bullying, Perriello said, can lead to domestic violence.

Chelsi Beauregard, 16, of Litchfield, who sang “God Bless America” at the event, said she endured bullying after appearing in a reality TV show that gave people a false and negative impression of her.

“I’m trying to make people aware that words hurt, too, and can take longer to heal,” she said.

The fundraiser is organized by police departments in Pelham, Windham, Salem and Hudson.

This year’s event enjoyed the support of 51 volunteers.

“That tells us how important this function is, how meaningful it is,” Perriello said.

One of the volunteers, Martha Flood of Pelham, raised $800 from businesses in one day for the cause. That total included a $100 contribution from the town’s Community Emergency Response Team, of which Flood is a member.

Flood, a massage therapist, provided free massages to participants before and after the race.

“It’s such a good cause,” she said. “Anything we can do to stop sexual and domestic violence.”