Noah Farrelly's life's dream was to run competitively at the Division I level, a goal he achieved when he enrolled at Stony Brook University in the fall of 2018. But it wasn't the miles he logged that people talk about most. It was his ability to connect — a genuine, caring nature that made him someone friends, teammates, and even strangers felt at ease with.

On December 4, 2018, Noah was struck and killed by a vehicle while out on a training run. Through organ donation, he saved six lives. Yet the detective who handled Noah's case told us Noah's impact wouldn't stop there — that a ripple effect of good would carry his story to countless others we'd never even know about: people moved to register as organ donors, drivers who'd think twice before passing a runner too closely. That idea has stayed with us ever since. We decided to honor Noah by keeping that ripple growing.

In the days that followed, our family was met with an outpouring of support from every corner of Noah's life — a scale of grief and generosity that reflected just how many people he'd touched, more than even he ever realized. That outpouring became part of Noah's ripple too. The Noah Farrelly Memorial Fund is how we keep it growing: returning the love we received to the community that carried us through, and cultivating more of what made Noah so loved in the first place — the kindness and empathy he showed so naturally, in people all around him.

See that love and kindness at work in our programs today.

●      21 scholarships awarded to Binghamton-area students

●      2,000+ pairs of sneakers donated through Farrelly's Feet

●      1,000+ wearable IDs distributed through our Runner Safety Program

●      7 BCSD elementary schools served by Farrelly's Feet

●      12 Think Kindness assemblies delivered through Kind Soles

Binghamton is home to one of the highest concentrations of childhood poverty in the Southern Tier. According to New York State Education Department data, 71% of Binghamton City School District students qualify for free lunch — a rate far higher than most neighboring districts, and one that reflects just how many local families are stretching every dollar to get by.

For many of these families, a properly fitting pair of sneakers is a real financial stretch — and going without one isn't just uncomfortable, it's a safety issue. Pediatric foot health experts note that shoes that are too small, too worn, or the wrong fit can leave growing feet without the support and stability they need to run and play safely. Farrelly's Feet exists to close that gap.

The program began small: 50 pairs of sneakers donated to MacArthur Elementary, Noah's own elementary school. Since then, Farrelly's Feet has grown to serve all seven BCSD elementary schools, and we've now donated more than 2,000 pairs of sneakers to date.

School social workers, who know their students and families best, identify children who could benefit — quietly and with care, so that no child is ever singled out or made to feel different for receiving a new pair of shoes. We also deliver sneakers mid-year, rather than at the start of the school year. Most back-to-school shoe drives happen in August and September, when donations and attention are easy to find. By winter and spring, growing feet need new shoes just as much — but the help has largely moved on. Farrelly's Feet is there for that second half of the year, when it's needed just as much and noticed far less.

Kind Soles is our newest program, facilitated by the Binghamton City School District: motivational assemblies for all BCSD students, grades K-12, paired with a community-wide shoe drive that gives students a hands-on way to put kindness into action. The assemblies are led by Brian Williams, founder of Think Kindness, whose kindness movement has reached more than 1,000 schools nationwide. Brian teaches students that no act of kindness is too small, and that every student has the power to change the world around them. Students leave with a challenge: to document 5,000 acts of kindness in just 15 days.

The shoe drive is one way students can meet that challenge: as they collect gently used shoes from family, friends, and neighbors, every pair is processed by Funds2Orgs, the nation's leading shoe-drive fundraising company. The proceeds flow directly back into our community, funding new sneakers for BCSD elementary students in need through our flagship program, Farrelly's Feet — which has already put more than 2,000 pairs of sneakers on the feet of Binghamton kids — while the donated shoes go on to create opportunity for micro-entrepreneurs and families in developing nations.

Kind Soles reaches beyond BCSD's school walls, inviting businesses and organizations across our community to serve as drop-off sites and giving everyone — students, families, and community members — a simple, tangible way to be part of the ripple effect of good Noah's life continues to create.

Every pair collected, new or gently used, moves us one step closer to every Binghamton child having safe, properly fitting shoes.

Soon after Noah's accident, our family was moved and amazed by the wide variety of people who reached out to share their stories of how he had made a difference in their lives. The acts they described weren't rare, extraordinary, or heroic — just small, everyday acts of caring, compassion, or moral support that genuinely mattered to them.

Noah was a strong student and a talented athlete, and it would have been easy to create a scholarship honoring either. But grades and athletic ability are already recognized everywhere. What stood out most about Noah was his empathy, and we believe that deserves the same recognition.

We invite Binghamton City School District students, faculty, and staff to share their own stories of how their chosen nominee made a difference in their lives or the lives of those around them by demonstrating a spirit of humanity and goodwill toward others. The winner is selected by a committee of friends dear to Noah's heart.

Contact the Binghamton High School guidance office for more details.

Noah was living his dream in the fall of 2018 as a freshman cross country and track & field athlete at Stony Brook University. On December 4th, he was training alone on the roads near campus when he was struck by a minivan traveling at full speed.

Noah wasn't carrying any identification, so he arrived nameless at the hospital. As his medical team tried everything they could to save his life, local authorities worked to identify our son with only a shattered cell phone and a shredded t-shirt to go on. When we finally received the call every parent dreads, nine hours had passed. Noah was 230 miles away. There are no words for the heartbreak of imagining our child fighting for his life without anyone able to comfort him by name.

We created the Runner Safety & Wearable ID Program so no other family would have to face what we did — and so Noah's ripple could reach the very roads where his life was cut short. Since 2019, we've provided free wearable identification and road safety education to young runners in our community, distributing more than 1,000 wearable IDs throughout the running community to date.

Since retiring our major fundraiser, the Noah Farrelly Run & Southside Field Day, we've scaled this program back to focus on fully funding wearable IDs for Binghamton City School District athletes. Runner safety remains close to our hearts, and while this chapter of the program is smaller, it isn't going away — we're actively looking at new ways to keep serving that mission in our next chapter.

We're proud to serve as the bib sponsor for the Healthy Kids Running Series here in Binghamton, and we show up race day to help keep things running smoothly. HKRS is a five-week running program held each spring and fall for kids from Pre-K through 8th grade at Otsiningo Park. Every week brings a new age-appropriate race, from a 50-yard dash for the youngest runners up to a full mile for the oldest, with an adaptive Challenger Division so kids of all abilities can take part.

It's exactly the kind of place Noah would have loved — cheering on the smallest, wobbliest sprinters right alongside the confident mile-runners, medals for everyone, and a community showing up week after week just to see kids have fun moving their bodies. Supporting HKRS lets us keep that spirit alive, and help build the next generation of runners in the same community that shaped Noah's own love of the sport.