After almost two months of patience to let my body heal from injury and some great physical therapy by our friend Scott…I’m back to running! I have about 5 1/2 weeks to get in some state of marathon-readiness and I’m up for the challenge. Nate and I will be traveling to Chicago to run the marathon there October 9th with our good friends, Phil and Jen McArdle. The photo below is a clear example of how I’ll be feeling at Mile 25 and the beautiful Chicago scenery…

Or…not. BUT I’ll tell you why I have that excited look on my face: We’re running for a cause! If you know us at all, you know that our work in the Dominican Republic is one thing we are super passionate about (see previous post). That work can’t continue without the support of our amazing friends and family. We’re using this marathon as a chance to raise awareness about the work we do and an opportunity to begin fundraising for our 2012 trip. 

Please consider supporting our run for the DR! You can mail a check made out to REUNION Christian Church to us at 10 Bayside St #2 Dorchester, MA 02125 or go here and learn more about online giving: http://www.reunioninthedr.com/fundraising/.

As if you needed more reasons to support us, I’ll give you 26. That’s one for every mile we’ll be running (or trying to!):

1. YOU make it possible for us to do what we do
2. Your name sounds beautiful in Spanish 
3. You will have 100 gorgeous little children giving you hugs (that’s if you donate AND come with us; superchallenge)
4. We give you a nifty postcard to put on your fridge (depicting gorgeous little children)
5. We also send you cool photos and videos so you can know exactly what you helped support
6. There’s almost 1,000 people in the village of La Mosca that will benefit directly from the medical supplies you’ll help us purchase
7. Your donation also helps buy concrete materials for building that we will lovingly hand mix to continue building and fixing homes
8. I will come and cook you dinner, make you a scarf, paint you a painting, or anything else I can possibly offer 
9. We will be encouraged by your donation and will do an extra hour of Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons that week due to our excitement
10. Your donation will help us have food so we don’t starve while we’re there
11. Karma
12. People in villages you’ve never been to will be praying for you and your family (that’s a fact)
13. It’s tax-deductible
14. A place that needs a lot of love will have Nate and I there to give a lot of hugs!
15. A place that needs a lot of sexual health education will have me there to do some HIV prevention work
16. Kids will get some awesome crafts that are just for them - a rarity
17. We won’t be running 26.2 miles in vain
18. My Etsy store isn’t doing too great as a fundraising tool, so you’ll give me a little encouragement if you donate because of our marathon
19. When I get blisters at mile 15, I’ll think of your generosity and have momentary immunity from the pain
20. Pastor Luis and the Vargas family get so much encouragement from having a whole group of people from Boston come down to work side by side with them - think of how that must feel!
21. We can bring you back some delicious Dominican coffee
22. You’ll provide countless families with personal hygiene materials, like toothbrushes and soap (for when the little ones use swear words)
23. You get to partner with some incredible work being done in the DR
24. Your donation will provide meals for kids who live in the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago, DR
25. We will be suffering for 4-5 hours during the marathon while our friends in the DR suffer far longer due to lack of food and medical care, which our trip is able to provide
26. You will feel great knowing you’ve helped people you never met before in the Dominican

Thanks for all your support! Everyone who has asked “how was your trip?” or “how is training going?” - that stuff means you care about what we do and it means the world to us.

THANK YOU!