DAMARISCOTTA — For the third year “running” on Thanksgiving Day, volunteers will be organizing an informal trail run at Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust’s Salt Bay Farm in Damariscotta to benefit Twin Villages Foodbank Farm (TVFF).

Getting out for a little exercise can be a gratifying way to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday, especially when it benefits a good cause, a press release touted. 

With the numbers of active cases of COVID-19 on the rise, however, Twin Villages Foodbank Farm has made the decision to offer its annual Thanksgiving 5K event virtually.

Instead of the physically-distant event originally planned at Coastal Rivers’ Salt Bay Farm on November 26, participants are invited to run or walk their favorite route anywhere on their own schedule, any day between November 18 and December 16.

There is no fee to participate, though monetary donations to TVFF are encouraged. Participants are asked to register online at coastalrivers.org/events or at twinvillagesfarm.org/foodbank-farm-5k.

Runners and walkers can complete the 5K (3.1 mile) route of their choice any time between Wednesday, November 18 and the end of the day on Wednesday, December 16. To have their results posted on TVFF’s website, finishers may email a selfie along with their time, or a screenshot of their route and time recorded on a fitness tracking app such as Strava, to hmcghee@coastalrivers.org.

TVFF will send a Twin Villages Foodbank Farm patch out to all finishers who provide their mailing address.

TVFF’s mission is to grow and distribute healthy food for those who need it most in Lincoln County. TVFF serves pantries in Newcastle, Jefferson, Boothbay, Wiscasset, Waldoboro, Whitefield, and New Harbor, and youth food programs including FARMS at the Y, the YMCA daycare, Newcastle Head Start, and weekend backpack programs at the Boothbay Regional Schools, Bristol Consolidated School, and Wiscasset Elementary School.

To learn more about the farm or to make a secure online donation, visit twinvillagesfarm.org.

The Farm operates in close partnership with Coastal Rivers. Coastal Rivers donates use of its prime farmland at Salt Bay Farm and provides administrative, fundraising and communications support. Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust is a non-profit, nationally accredited land trust with active programs in land conservation, water quality, trails and public access, and nature education in the Damariscotta-Pemaquid region.