Hi all, Sole Sister V here. After thinking about the reasons behind why I run, one thing stuck out, and I wanted to expand upon it here. I really like that I'm able to use my hobby, something I love to do and would do anyway, to help others.
I'm proud to tell people I am a runner because I feel the running community in general is a caring, altruistic, and charitable bunch. If you ever needed proof, you can look to the outpouring of support given by runners in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in April. Not only did runners quickly open their wallets to give to the One Fund Boston to aid those injured in the blasts, some even opened their veins as they streamed to hospitals to give blood immediately after the tragedy. As of early May, One Fund Boston had raised $29 million, with about $11 million coming from individual donors, and the rest from corporate giving, according to a May, 2013, article from The New Yorker.
Runners, as a category, are prime candidates to be able to give back. According to U.S. Census Bureau research, 73 percent of runners polled by the American Community Survey between 2006-08 reported a household income of more than $75,000, above the U.S. median household income of $52,175.
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| When runners dream ... |
There are myriad ways you can be a charitable runner. Perhaps the most common way is to participate in races that benefit causes. This is the case with most 5Ks out there. A portion of the proceeds from your race registration will aid the charity for which the 5K is organized -- no additional fund-raising on your part needed. Fill out the form, send in your money, show up, run, and leave knowing you helped someone while doing something you love, and probably would do anyway. Simple, right? If you feel passionately about a cause for which you're running, you can always look into raising additional money as well. I've done this for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5Ks that I've run, and it really makes me feel even more connected and invested in my race.
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| Race for the Cure, Columbus |
You can even turn your training runs into a charitable effort, with the help of a handy smart phone app. If you regularly run with your phone anyway, this is a no-brainer. The (totally free) app I use is RUN4GOOD from Saucony. It works like this: Each month, an organization or cause is selected by Saucony to potentially receive aid. The RUN4GOOD community then must meet a challenge in order to trigger the donation. For example, in May, the Kenton County School District stands to receive a $10,000 donation if the R4G community runs 10,000 miles in the month. So, with the app installed on your phone, you would just select "START RUN" before you hit the road (or treadmill), and your miles are automatically logged. The app tracks your individual milestones, and also shows you how the entire community is doing, as well as the top individual efforts. R4G also gives you details about the organization that stands to receive the money. The program will always benefit efforts to reduce childhood obesity. According to R4G, "The Saucony Run For Good Foundation is committed to improving the lives of children by helping to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. We act to inform the public about its cause and prevention and provide funding to optimize the impact and success of community organizations that promote running and healthy lifestyle programs for youth." I'm sure there may be more app-based charity opportunities out there -- if you know of any good ones, let us know in the comments section. sauconyrunforgood.com
A unique opportunity for runners to help out impoverished people is just coming online in late spring of 2013. I'm really excited to see how this is going to work. The organization KindRunner accepts your used, no-longer-wanted running shoes and turns them into "new" shoes for someone in need. This not only will help change the lives of countless shoeless people, allowing them to walk to jobs and prevent foot-borne diseases, but this also keeps your shoes from ending up in a landfill, where they can take 100 years to break down. KindRunner pairs with the More Foundation Group, which asserts that keeping one pair of running shoes out of the landfill offsets 1 ton of carbon dioxide. One of KindRunner's other partners is Soles4Souls, which repurposes used shoes to give to those in need worldwide and also helps create micro-enterprises to generate income in impoverished areas. While you can already feel awesome knowing that you are helping out on two fronts HERE'S THE REALLY COOL PART: When you turn in your old shoes to KindRunner, they will issue you Kindness Cash Rewards that you can use toward the purchase of new shoes. I'm personally hoping that the Kindness Cash is good for gear as well as shoes, because I really like my local shoe stores! kindrunner.com
So when I say, "be kind to yourself, and be kind to each other," I really mean it. You can be kind to yourself by pursuing something you love -- running -- while being kind to others by giving back. It doesn't matter what place you come in during a race -- being a charitable runner makes you a winner every time you hit the road.
-- V.
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