This Sunday, you can run to benefit more than just your body.

You can also benefit the Tom Kleban Recovery Fund by running the Campus Loop 5K road race at 11 a.m. Sponsored by the Nittany Valley Track Club, it is the first of several events that will contribute to this new fund.

Members of the Penn State track teams started the fund to provide financial and emotional support for former track team member Tom Kleban, who was paralyzed in a diving accident last summer.

"We (members of the track teams) spent so much time together that we become like family, and our hearts just went out to him," track alumna Kiernan O'Toole said.

George Kleban, Tom's father, said he never realized the closeness of the team members. "They have been a lifeline; both teams have been 100 percent behind him, and the coaches have been phenomenal," he said.

O'Toole originally suggested dedicating a home meet to Kleban and holding a banquet afterward. After she contacted men's coach Harry Groves and women's coach Teri Jordan to organize the meet and banquet, a committee was formed. After a brainstorming session, the committee found several other ways to raise money for Kleban.

First, Bi-Lo will donate $1 to the fund for every $200 in register receipts collected in a box that will soon be at the store. If people want to contribute receipts now, they can drop them off at the track offices or a radio station WQWK.

"That's really going to be our biggest source of long term income, because there's no time limit on that," assistant women's coach Jeri Daniels said. "We can leave the box there as long as we choose. That's where people in the community can help without spending any money."

Though about $12,000 has already been raised, committee members want the fund to be continuous because Kleban is facing a lengthy recovery.

"It's easy to get on with your life, especially since students only hang around every four years," Daniels said. "So in two or three years, if we don't keep promoting the idea, then the people who knew him will have moved on and the people coming in afterwards will have no idea."

An eventual goal, then, is to establish a permanent fund like the one for Norm Constantine, a former Nittany Lion mascot who is now paralyzed.

The committee and track teams are currently organizing "A Salute to Tom Kleban" on April 21. The Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Relays will be dedicated to him and there will be a raffle at noon, the proceeds of which will go to the fund.

Donations for raffle tickets are currently being collected at $1 per ticket and $5 for six tickets. If the person receiving the ticket puts Kleban's name on the ticket instead of his own, then the fund will receive the monetary prize if that ticket wins.

"The support is just astounding, how many people want to help, people who don't even know him," Ford said.

"Coaches and athletes from other schools who don't even know him but have heard his name donate money," women's team co-captain Carmen Mann added.

Following the relays, there will be an informal banquet for the team members, family, friends and alumni at the Indoor Sports Complex, after which an auction will be held at 7 p.m. Several items have already been donated including a painting worth several hundred dollars, Eagles' and Steelers' autographed footballs, Penn State nylon windsuits and "anything we can get our hands on," Groves said.

Another road race sponsored by the track teams and Aqua Penn is planned for the day after the relays. Details are not yet available.

In addition to these events, private donations are also being collected by Dave Colton of the Nittany Lion Club at 275 Rec Hall.

Though Kleban's father said that his son will definitely need a specialized van at some point to increase his independence, the Klebans have not decided how they will use the money at this time because Tom's specific needs can't yet be determined.

Although the fund is monetary, it also provides emotional support for Kleban, who is working hard in rehabilitation. A native of Boalsburg, he is well known in the area.

"I'm extremely thankful for having such great friends who would do something like this," Kleban said. "To have that much support . . . it's a great driving force."