Martians and Marathoners
Written on March 18th, 2010 by Franklin Katherine
Written on March 18th, 2010 by Franklin Katherine
On Saturday, February 20, an enthusiastic group of Sicola Martians came together at the Tony Burger Center for Marathon Kids, as thousands of elementary school students completed the final mile of a 26.2-mile marathon. Most adults can’t fathom completing a marathon, but these kids did it in spectacular fashion–and we were there to cheer them on.
As part of our agency-wide volunteer efforts in the community, this event was our first of 2010–and it was a blast. Although the weather was cold and drizzly, we were all smiles as we helped to encourage the children as they made their way around the track, celebrated them as they crossed the finish line, and had the honor of awarding medals and handing out stickers and water bottles–to go with congratulatory high fives.
Founded right here in Austin 13 years ago, Marathon Kids is an organization that encourages children to live a healthy and active lifestyle by running or walking 26.2 miles over a six-month period while eating healthy foods daily. Participants and their families are encouraged to not only log their miles, but also eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day for at least 26.2 days of each month. The organization has since expanded to seven additional markets around the country, so it was rewarding not only to support the pint-size marathoners, but also a home-grown organization.
I have to admit, as we cheered the kids through the final lap, passed out prizes, and cleaned up, the familiar cliché of volunteerism rang true: we got back way more than we put in. The chants of “We did it!” and the faces of the kids as they proudly adorned their hard-earned medals were well worth the few hours spent helping out. And getting to spend the morning with co-workers was an added, awesome bonus.
We’re getting ready to plan SicolaMartin’s next community outreach endeavor, and if future events are as rewarding as Marathon Kids, we are in for a really fun year. If you know of any volunteer opportunities that would be great for a group, please let us know.
Ruth Purkhiser wrote: Hi! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website? I'm getting fed up of Wordpress because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Saturday, March 10th 2012 at 10:52 am |