All Saints Parish 5K highlights ripple effect of community
BUTLER TWP — When Sarah Kasunic, a former student of Butler Catholic School and Butler County Community College graduate, died in a traffic accident in 2019, her kidney was donated to Allen Schneider, 59, of Greenfield, Wis., who had kidneys that weren’t working and was on dialysis 25 hours a week, his wife said.
On Friday, Allen and his wife, Linda Schneider, were among the families and volunteers who gathered at St. Conrad’s church for the second annual All Saints Parish Twilight 5K & 1-Mile Fun Run honoring the lives of Sarah Kasunic and Emily Leyland, both young women who had been students at Butler Catholic School and parishioners at All Saints Parish.
According to the parish’s communications director, Tracey Belak, 435 people were registered for the event, and more registered at the door.
The Schneiders drove from Milwaukee for the 1-mile walk. It was a worthwhile drive, Linda Schneider said.
Hank and Terry Leyland, parents of Emily Leyland, who died of leukemia in 2013, said the event keeps their daughter’s memory alive. The Leylands cooked upward of 600 hot dogs to serve event-goers Friday as tribute videos of Sarah Kasunic and their daughter played in a nearby tent and community members picked up their race numbers.
“You know, it’s something we look forward to now,” Hank Leyland said.
