Hope Water Project

Good Afternoon! Today is (finally) a bright and sunny one. I can’t wait to get out there and run in a couple of hours.

Instead of running last night with Roadie, I decided to pull a rest day for my sore body and woke up feeling a lot better. Sometimes you just have to listen to your muscles!

Speaking of running, there’s been something I have been meaning to share with you for a while now, and am excited today is the day.

Detroit Free Press Marathon: Hope Water Project

Some of you might have picked up on the fact that I will be running my second half marathon race this coming fall. I have a goal to run at least five half distances before we start a family, so I guess I better get movin’.

This October, I will actually be crossing international waters and the border to run in the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon over the bridge to Canada and back, all in a matter of hours! Pretty neat, right?

What really got me motivated to hop back on the long distance training and racing horse, however, is something pretty special.

I quickly mentioned The Hope Water Project back in April, but have yet to share what it’s all about.

Scott and I have found a church we can call home up here in Michigan. It’s called Kensington, and there are several campuses in our area as well as in our hometown of Orlando!

At first, I was apprehensive about sharing the details of where we attend services, but in the grand scheme of things… it doesn’t really matter. What I’m about to share does.

Running with Team Kensington

Since 2004, Team Kensington has been partnering up with Hope Water Project for the Detroit Marathon to provide clean water and hope for the Pokot tribe in Kenya.

Who are the Pokot and why are we helping them?

Directly from the Kensington website:

“The Pokot are beautiful, hospitable, and resilient people in Western Kenya. They are also extremely impoverished, neglected, and marginalized; which is why we’re coming to investing in their lives. Over the past eleven years, we’ve entered into a partnership with the Pokot to provide Hope – one clean water well at a time.”

Why water?

“Ultimately, clean water provides hope for a new future. Water is our most basic and vital need in life. Without it, nothing can happen. Nothing can grow. But with it, everything changes. Clean water quenches thirst – but is also restores health. With access to clean water, life can be given back to a community.”

Access to clean water is something I and most of you reading this take for granted every single day.

For the people living in this community, getting clean water is a part of their every day struggle. It takes time out of their work and school days (up to four hours for unsterilized water!) to get to, and providing more wells with clean water is a small effort we can contribute towards that would make the biggest difference in their lives.

Hope, not just for clean water, but for a new life.

The goal is to raise money to create as many new wells as we can for the Pokot. Since 2004, Kensington has helped dig 56 deep-water wells in Africa, and now we want to supply safe water to the one million Pokot people living in Northwest Kenya!

With the drilling of each well, villages have grown, lives have been saved, and communities have been formed.

Hope Water Project exists to provide hope revealed through clean water. If you have some tissues ready, watch the video that explains it all.

Become a Sponsor

So what can we do?

It’s incredible to even have a starting place figured out. Through the amazing community we have come to find at Kensington, there is somewhere to start and something to do.

Hearing and seeing the video interviews of runners (<- still have those tissues handy?) and church members from last year’s Detroit Marathon tugged on Scott and I’s heart strings. Hard.

Scott and I both run. But never for a purpose as great as this. So, alongside a few of our close friends, we signed up to be a part of the team!

Last year, Team Kensington raised $1,013,716 in fundraising, which is enough to dig forty new wells! This year, the goal is to raise enough for fifty.

I have a personal goal to raise $1,000 for this project, and am throwing my profile page out to you guys.

You don’t have to do anything with it. Our even view it, for that matter. But I wanted to pass it on because it’s something that means a lot to me.

It may be taboo for me to throw something like this up on a blog page, but at the end of day, the amount of eye rolls I might get doesn’t even compare to the feeling I get knowing I am trying my best to help.

So it’s out there, and I am nothing short of thrilled to share that I will be running for a purpose this fall and documenting the journey to the finish line!

To help keep our team strong, Kensington hosts a weekly Group Training run that Scott and I try to attend on a regular basis.

They start earrrly (Hello, 7 a.m. on a Saturday), but always feel worth the trip the second we get there.

There are a few different locations, and each one starts out with a runner sharing their story on why they run, along with a tip or two they’ve learned while training for past races. (I thought this was extra fitting, with yesterday being National Running Day and all!)

I’ll have to put together a post sharing some of these running tips, since I’ve learned some valuable information myself!

So, today, I’m lacing up for a few different reasons. I desperately need the me time, Roadie and I both need to get some fresh air, but more importantly, there will be a smile on my face since I’ve finally shared my purpose of training with you.

Any dollar amount makes a difference, so if you feel inclined to become a sponsor and help me reach my goal (any amount big or small is greatly appreciated!), you can donate online.

Thank you all for reading!