I love running. But do you know what I love even more than running? Making an impact on people’s lives through running! Over the last eleven years, I’ve been running marathons, ultras, and even an Ironman to make my miles matter for the sake of others - namely victims of sex trafficking, those battling depression and suicidal ideation, people (like my mom and dad) battling blood cancers, children in SE Asia who desperately need food, and people in sub Saharan Africa that need clean drinking water.
Running on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and those facing life-threatening challenges puts a deep meaning into every step, every mile, every run. God dropped a dream in my heart before I turned 30 - to run 30 miles on my 30th birthday with 30 friends to raise $30,000 to rescue girls out of the nightmare of sex trafficking, because every 30 seconds someone becomes a victim. I invited everyone I knew to come and run with me on 5/28/2016. Most people told me they hate running, but hate sex trafficking more!
Forty-eight friends came to run the full 30 miler with me and seventy-five others showed up to run a 5k version of our run. Our goal was $30,000. At the end of the day we tallied the funds and were blown away by God’s goodness as $81,346 came in!! The next year we hosted more than 400 runners and raised $170k. It has been the wildest ride ever to see so many people who are passionate about ending sex trafficking in our lifetime make their miles matter for both victims and survivors of sex trafficking.
By God’s grace, we have raised $1.25MM since that 30th birthday run in 2016. And since we are 100% volunteer led, we are able to give 100% of those funds directly to the non-profit partners we support who do: sex trafficking prevention, rescue operations, and survivor aftercare. 30forFreedom.org was born out of a dream to help people make their miles matter. We count it an honor to do what we do for the sake of others.
