*Pictured (l-r): Molly, Kate, and Nick Burke after the race.*

The annual Africatown Bridge Challenge 5K Race and Fun Run was held on July 27. Representing Cooper/T. Smith was our own Nick Burke, CPA and member of the corporate accounting group. He was joined in the race by his wife Kate and daughter Molly.

Organized by the Africatown Community Development Corporation, the event is held each summer to benefit Africatown’s Community Garden and Marketplace. The 5K course took participants over the Africatown Bridge, roundtrip, while the one-mile fun run saw participants race to the foot of the Africatown Bridge and back to the Africatown Welcome Center.

Africatown is a historic community located three miles north of downtown Mobile, Alabama. It was formed by a group of 32 West Africans, who in 1860 were included in the last known illegal shipment of slaves to the United States. Upon founding and creating their own community, they retained their West African customs and language into the 1950s.