The Crunchy Chicken Challenge is a lighthearted 5k Run / Wrap Eating Event that benefits KU Habitat for Humanity.

Participants are encouraged to run 1.5 miles, eat one beloved Crunchy Chicken Cheddar Wrap (or a Mega-Vega vegetarian option), and finish 1.5 miles to the finish. The event encompases three miles and several hundred calories.

Categories for the 15 Crunchy Chicken Challenge Victors Are :

Best Costume 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place

Best Male Individual Time 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place

Best Female Individual Time 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place

Best Team (Minimum 4 Participants, Top Average Time) 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place

Best Greek Team (Minimum 12 Participants, Top Average Time) 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place

The Fundraiser began in early 2009 from the support of the KU Habitat for Humanity Student Chapter.

In only its first year, the Crunchy Chicken Challenge had tremendous success with over 120 runners, great weather, and great proceeds for Habitat for Humanity!

Habitat for Humanity got its start in Lawrence in 1989 after Rev. John Gingerich was inspired by a visit to Habitat's national headquarters. Since this date, Lawrence Habitat has provided housing for 70 families in the area.

How does Habitat work?

Habitat for Humanity is in the business of building homes in partnership with families in need. It is a partnership that brings these families together with people committed to making poverty housing unnecessary. We build together, and then the family buys the home.

In partnership with volunteers and with Habitat for Humanity, families build their own simple, decent homes. A typical family is required to put 450 hours of work, mostly on their home but also on other Habitat homes. We call that "sweat equity," an investment that they earn through a lot of hard work.

Each homeowner family then buys the home. It becomes affordable, because it is sold for the cost of materials, with the benefit of volunteer labor, on a mortgage with no interest. The money goes back into a revolving fund for future homeowners -- the "Fund for Humanity."

"Simple, Decent" is a Habitat watch-phrase. Habitat, with volunteers and homeowners, builds solid, well-constructed but simple homes, typically just under 1100 square feet for a three-bedroom home.

How does a family qualify?

Families in need qualify by showing a willingness and ability to be a partner. Although their income would not allow them to obtain a conventional mortgage, they have shown themselves to be responsible for the task of construction and the continuing responsibility of home ownership. Further details are found in a page of Information for Prospective Homeowners . Where does the money come from?

Habitat for Humanity is truly a community organization. Hundreds of individuals, many businesses, and a cross-section of churches are among the primary supporters of Habitat for Humanity. Although Habitat does not accept government funds for construction, grants and partnerships with the affiliate's city help underwrite building site acquisition.

Simple, decent housing, built with families in need is in everyone's interest, and throughout the United States and the world, a wide range of people are partners in this mission.