200 miles and 2 mountain passes for BETHANY KIDS

It's been a long time since I've blogged but my new adventure of 200 miles and 2 mountain passes is worth sharing! Read on to learn more. . .

I am competing in another race and using this race to raise funds for an organization I am very passionate about. I believe in the mission of Bethany Kids because I witnessed the life-changing impact that this organization has on Kenyan children at two different locations I worked at during my medical missions trip to Kenya in 2014: Kijabe Hosital and Joy Town, a school for kids with physical disabilities. Kijabe helps kids from all over Kenya and Eastern Africa that require complex and expensive medical procedures for hydrocephalus, brain tumors, and spina bifida, etc. Joytown allows kids with similar diagnoses to get an education and learn how to manage their disabilities because they are often neglected in the African culture.  If you followed my previous blogs (May – Sept 2014) last year, you read about Joy Town as I asked friends and family to support this cause while I was training for my Half Ironman 70.3. I was completely blown away when friends and family gave $3000 for this worthy cause!

I am doing some fun triathlons again this year, including some with Athletes in Tandem (competing with individuals of all ages with disabilities). 

But my new exciting adventure is called Wild West Relay (http://www.rltrelays.com/wild-west-relay) -- a 200 mile running race from Fort Collins to Steamboat that goes over two mountain passes. I will be completing this over a 36+ hour period with a 12 person team of close friends that I've met since moving to Fort Collins, CO. Each of us will run 3 different legs of the relay with varying distances and elevation gains. I will personally be running 18.5 miles with a 3,500 ft elevation gain and will be running over one of the mountain passes! We will start at 5am on Friday, July 31st and finish in the afternoon on Saturday, August 1st, which means some of the legs will happen late at night and early in the morning.  I am the team captain and it has been a lot of work to coordinate all the details; we have to carry all of your own food, water, first aid equipment, maps, and safety supplies. It will be a very physically challenging endeavor but my friends and I are very excited for this adventure together!

This past month I received an email from Bethany Kids that alarmed me. Bethany Kids is low on funds and they might have to dramatically limit their services to kids with disabilities in Kenya if they don't raise more support. They need $90,000 of additional funds in order to continue services for kids at Joy Town and Kijabe hopsital. Surgeries are the most significant expense for Bethany Kids and they will have to reduce the number of surgeries if funds don’t come in. The newsletter told about a recent patient named Grace who was found with a brain tumor at the age of 10.  Her family did not have the funds to have the aggressive brain tumor removed but a Bethany Kid surgeon was able to remove it successfully and her latest scan showed no tumor! This is one of the thousands of stories about how Bethany Kids ministers to those in need. There are hundreds of recorded inspirational stories online but I would HIGHLY encourage everyone to watch the two minute video on Joy from Joy Town (http://bethanykids.org/blog/changing-lives-joytown). Watching the video clip brings tears to my eyes! I recognize the locations and I even recognize the patient Joy in the clip and the physiotherapist who is caring for her.

(Little Job at Kijabe hospital for physiotherapy) (finishing therapy at Joy Town with John and he didn't want me to leave!) 

I am writing to ask friends and family to support Grace and Joy and all of the children at Bethany Kids by giving toward every mile of our relay. Would you consider partnering with us? Would you be willing to give a $1 for every mile? Or a quarter? Everything counts! And everything will be used to help change the lives of precious kids in Kenya! Thanks so much for your support of Bethany Kids and the kids it serves.

Please send your checks to 4408 John F Kennedy B302 Fort Collins, CO. Make the check out to Bethany Kids so that all the donations will be tax deductible. Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions at all (annagreenwalddpt@gmail.com). For more information on the Bethany Kids organization, check out http://bethanykids.org/