By Anita Oh

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than a thousand people got up early Saturday and got moving for a great cause. The Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church hosted the Fitness For Eternity Run.

Athlete -- or amateur -- a large group hit the asphalt. More than a thousand runners trekked the 4.5 miles from the church in Germantown to Enon's east campus on West Cheltenham Avenue. All $7,000 raised will benefit the Northwest Victim Services, which helps victims of crime in the 8th, 14th, 35th and 39th Philadelphia police districts, and the Center for Grieving Children and Teens.

That's a place Tinika Hamilton and her three children know very well.

"It's a blessing," Hamilton said. "We need the support to get us through daily."

To grieve the loss of her husband, Carl.

"He was killed in a car accident two years ago," Hamilton explained, "so we've been going there ever since."

And the services, which include group counseling, are completely free, meaning the funds will allow them to help even more families and children dealing with loss.

"They're able to say, this is what I'm feeling, this is what's going on. they don't have to bottle it up," said Dr. Angelle Richardson, Executive Director, Center For Grieving Children and Teens. "They're able to express themselves better, then you see better behavior in school, better behavior at home."

Enon Reverend Leroy Miles says the annual run has raised more than $120,000 for different community organizations in the past eleven years.

"They're allowing us to be a blessing to our community," he said.

They chose these causes in September -- almost a divine pick -- as they could have never predicted a year ahead filled with so much pain.

"The violence we're seeing in our community, with the tragedy, they're the organization that when you say 'grief counselors are going to show up,' they're the folks that show up," Reverend Miles explained.

And for this group, the support from each other has been clear, whether they're in a grief center or on the ground.