Med students running up Signal Hill every day this month to raise money and embrace community

With the rising sun over the Narrows in downtown St. John's as a backdrop, a group of medical students from Memorial University run their way to the top of Signal Hill part ofa daily push to raise money.

This group of go-gettersisn't just putting fitness first;the goal of the Hills for Humanity fundraiser is to give back to the community.

"We don't always get the opportunity to engage with the community until people are sick or in the health-care setting," second-year medical school student Justin Billard told CBC News. Engagingwith the public early is key, he said.

"That's really critical to promote a healthier community and for us to better understand the needs of the community."

• These MUN students are running Signal Hill each day of November, for a good cause

This year's charity is Thrive, anon-profit group that tries to fill in gaps in social services and helpsvulnerable individuals through community outreach.

The Hills for Humanityeffort is aimingto raise $5,000 much needed money, according to Thrive executive directorAngela Crockwell.

"There's lots of pressures on us as an organization," said Crockwell. "We're seeing more and more people come through our doors."

Demand is up and money just isn't going as far as it used to, she said.

"Our budget obviously has not increased, but the cost for us to be able to make sure people have access to good, healthy nutrition, meals, snacks, has increased significantly," she said.

The other problem is that daily costs have risen as well for individuals who donate money to Thrive reducing what people have available to donate as they deal withwith inflation.

• Freeland warns of 'difficult days ahead' as Canada's economy shows sign of weakness

Thrive had been concerned their food budget was going to run out before the end of the year, so the influx of cash will be a huge help.

"We will definitely be using that money to be able to help people right on the front lines with their specific individual needs," said Crockwell.

Every day in October, people from the school of medicine students, residentdoctorsor even faculty members will run or hiketheirway from the Battery Cafto the top of Signal Hill.

It isn't always easy,given the workload of the young medical school students,but having a good cause to support is motivation.

"Thrive is doing a lot of good work with at-risk youth and young adults in the city and in the community as a whole andlooking at health care and the way we think of health going beyond the health-care model and the importance of the social determinants of health and addressing those factors," Billiard said.

Billard lists education, income, housing and food security as four of those factors that Thrive is targeting.

"I think as future medical learners it's important to kind of demonstrate that and recognize that importance and try to do work that addresses them ourselves."

Temperatures will soon drop and demand will rise

The number of runners and walkers varies from day to day, with the runs happening in the morning and the hikes in the afternoon. The mild October weather has been welcomed by those studying to be doctors.

"It's helped encourage people to come out and, you know, get that greater engagement that we're seeking," Billard said.

But everyone knows that the warm weather won't last forever and colder temperatures bringmore problems for the people Thrive helps.

"Power bills are a huge pressure point for people and we've certainly been working with a number of folks over the last year who are facing eviction because they just cannot manage power bills," Crockwell said.

"That's going to increase as we head into winter, soevery dollar that we receive really makes a big impact for us."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador