Nick Gennaralli and Colton Egbert, Tahoma high school students, organized a 5K fundraiser for their friend Tyler Ghosn who died last year after a four year battle with cancer.

Their goal was to raise $10,000 for the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Foundation in honor of Ghosn. When going door-to-door last summer to raise money wasn’t working as well as they thought it would, they decided to organize a 5K fundraiser.

The 5K took place on March 12 at Lake Wilderness Park. More than 200 participants attended and the sun even came out for the race, Gennaralli said. They raised more than $4,000 just from the race and after adding everything up, they hit their goal of $10,000.

“It couldn’t have been better, honestly,” Gennaralli said.

A lot goes into organizing a fundraiser, Gennaralli said. However, consistency is key. He and Egbert never gave up and they found ways to make the fundraiser better and found ways to make people want to help and be involved.

After seeing the success of the fundraiser, Gennaralli and Egbert are thinking about doing it again next year.

Theresa Murbach, whose son was close with Ghosn since the second grade, attended the event and was overwhelmed by all of the people that came to support the cause.

“This cause and run was not only very special to our family but really touched our family for how many people came out to support Tyler,” Murbach said.

Donations are still being accepted on their GoFundMe page, Fred Hutch Cancer Fundraiser.