I'm a huge kid advocate, having worked at tons of children's nonprofits in my professional fundraising career. So, when I saw a notice advertising the Run Wild For A Child 10K and 5K runs/walks in San Francisco, it really grabbed my attention.

The Run Wild For A Child 10K/5K runs are not only very fun runs; they're also a cool time to donate toys! The runs benefit the San Francisco Firefighters' toy drive. On race day, there will be drop offs to donate a new toy or a book for SF area disadvantaged kids, and proceeds from the race go to the toy drive. The toy drive distributes more than 200,000 toys every year to over 40,000 kids. They also help out kids all year long who are displaced because of fires, floods, earthquakes or any other natural disaster.

The Run Wild For A Child 10K/5K runs are held every year on Thanksgiving weekend. The runs start at JFK Drive and ends at Golden Gate Park. What could be more perfect than running early in the morning in beautiful Golden Gate Park and overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge? I mean, come on, you'd have to be a philistine not to think that was gorgeous.

But the coolest thing for me about this race is you can dress up as your favorite toy for the "Favorite Childhood Toy" costume competition. If I was running this year, I'd dress up as Winnie the Pooh (okay, maybe not - might be a bit too hot and heavy a costume to run in,) or as someone with superpowers like Wonder Woman. (That would help win the race, right?)

The race will be held this year on November 30, 2008, and starts at 8:30 a.m. You have two choices of entrance fee; either a straight $30 entrance fee, which will put you in the race, or a $50 fee with 20 bucks of that going directly to the toy drive. Come on, it's almost Christmas. Fork over your 50 bucks and help some kids have a nice Christmas. Christmas is for kids and these 10k/5k runs will help some of them have a great holiday.