Shoes for Youth

Rumon said it first; I just changed the pronoun…

By now, many of you know that along with my two friends and training partners, Rumon and Jim, I'll be running the Flora London Marathon in April. Though we're excited about the race itself, that is not the purpose of this post. Instead, I'm writing regarding another, non-running goal we've set for the event, to raise awareness about and money for Runner's of Compassion's Shoes for Youth program.

In essence, ROC and Shoes for Youth are affording underprivileged kids the opportunity to do what Rumon, Jim and I are doing: to know the passion of running, the satisfaction of chasing goals and the enjoyment of doing so with great friends.

Which is all a very long-winded way of getting around to "the ask" which, for now, has nothing to do with your pocketbooks.

One of the means by which we're hoping to develop funds is via a Give Meaning page (Give Meaning is a charitable giving site that allows users to make donations and receive tax credits in the knowledge that none of their donation is being siphoned off to cover the administration of the service). The kicker is that in order to get this page rolling, we need an indication of support to the tune of 99 (latest check actually 70) 'votes'. In essence, Give Meaning is trying to ensure they only get genuine projects posted to their site; the 99 votes is a way of validating the project. When you vote, you're making no commitment to donate at that time or in the future, you're basically just saying "these guys are for real."

So, what we're asking is for you to swing by this site - http://www.givemeaning.com/donate/p-project.aspx?gg=979 - and indicate a vote of support by hitting the red button in the upper left. If you'd like to make a donation at that time or some later date, please do so, but this is more about getting out the word about Runners of Compassion and Shoes for Youth than anything else.

Sincere advance thanks for helping us out with this project and best wishes for whatever goals you're chasing at the moment.

Ah, one other thing/assurance comes to mind: ALL the money we raise is going to Shoes for Youth - NONE of it is going to the three runners who are each individually funding their trip.

Our thanks again,

Michael (also on behalf of Rumon and Jim)