Hi, dear friends!
This July, I'll be biking with my former foster dad, Jim, for 184.5 miles along the C&O Canal --well, there's an extra 15.5 miles for the show-offs and if you know Jim, you already know he's extra, and I'm not a quitter, so we're riding 200 miles--to complete The Great Bicycle Tour – TGBT XXXVII. Yikes, I need your help ASAP!
If you know me, you're probably wondering why, as a marathoner, I don't just run it. Well, I probably could, but TGBT is the major annual fundraiser for San Mar Family and Community Services, a wonderful nonprofit organization that helps and supports children and families achieve resilience. Wait! I know that sounded really boring, and who has time for dirty rugrats, anyway? Trust me, I'd rather be running, but I'm taking a break (if you can call it that) to enjoy the company of social workers and child advocates who've all made a world of a difference for at least one foster kid.
Each year about 400,000 American children enter foster care, and roughly only 2% of them receive the services they need to age out of care successfully as healthy adults and become productive members of society by age 26. The mission of San Mar Family and Community Services is to fill this gap for as many children as they can. This includes providing clinical trauma therapy and counseling, matching kids with loving foster families, facilitating family mediation, and simply cultivating hope in young minds. As a former foster child, I know how bewildering life can be as a young girl coming from a troubled past, with big dreams for the future but no bearings. I am so grateful for the support I received, and I know would not be the person I am had it not been for the lifelines that foster care programs provided me.
To help San Mar Family and Community Services continue to make a positive dent in the lives of children in need, please help me raise $525 this summer. I'd be thrilled if we surpassed my minimum fundraising goal and reached $2500 instead, but it's up to you to help me get there. Every gift is appreciated, and it all adds up, so whatever you can give is perfect.
Please do this for me, will you? Don't make me bike for nothing.
I promise to capture moments during the bike ride and post them on social media for you to enjoy!
Happy running, er, biking,
Elizabeth
