ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Wegmans East Avenue Grocery Run, a 15th annual fundraiser to benefit local food pantries and hot meal programs, is taking place on Saturday.

News10NBC TODAY spoke with the organizers, who say 100% of the proceeds go toward fighting food insecurity through 35 pantries and Foodlink. The Third Presbyterian Church, which founded the run, is one of those pantries.

“We’ve seen the hunger rise in the Rochester area over the last 10 or 15 years. And so we’re trying to figure out how we can fund it best and one of the ways we decided to do it is to do a race,” said Rev. Tedd Pullano of the Third Presbyterian Church.

A 5K and 10K race will both start and finish at the Third Presbyterian Church on East Avenue at 8 a.m. There’s also a 1K race that runs out and back to Alexander Street at 9:10 a.m. You can register and see a course map here.

Last year, the race raised over $66,500, which the Third Presbyterian Church distributed to the other food pantries. Organizer Ellen Rye says the annual races have raised $570,00 since their start. She has high hopes for this year with 1,500 people registered so far.

“Your registration fee for the event will go directly to a food pantry. So you can always feel good about it. You’re coming out and getting fit and fighting hunger at the same time,” Rye said.

Rye says the fast and flat course is a great way to see downtown and have fun. After the race, there will be an after-party catered by two dozen local restaurants.

“It’s just our way of saying thank you to our runners who come out and support food pantries,” she said.

Once runners have registered, they can pick up their shirts and bibs on Thursday or Friday at Rochester Running on Mt. Hope Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on-site on race day at 6:45 a.m. Runners are welcome to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the food drive.