This weekend, 826DC held our second-ever Half-Half-Half-Half-Half Marathon, the 0.826 mile fundraiser supporting our writing programs.
About the Half-Half-Half-Half-Half Marathon
This offbeat event was inspired by our friends at 826 Boston. Participants had about five weeks to raise as many donations for 826DC as possible. Then, on June 4th, we met on the field at Harriet Tubman Elementary School and braved the sun to complete an impressive 0.826 mile loop!
The event was all the more special because of the location: Harriet Tubman Elementary School is one of the fantastic school partners we work with each year. Out on the field, we were just meters away from the classrooms where 826DC literary mentors from our Reading All-Stars program have read with students each Saturday morning.
We kept the focus on students every step of the way—the entire route was dotted with signs bearing student quotes.
A Walk (and Run and Jog) to Remember
So many people—both new and familiar faces—signed up to support 826DC! Folks set up a whopping 54 fundraising pages.
With those fundraising pages, and the Kimsey Foundation‘s generous match, we were able to bring in $31.1K to help fund our free youth writing programs and publishing opportunities!
That’s incredible.
To everyone who fundraised, donated, spread the word, or cheered us on from afar: thank you. Because of you, more DC students will get to see their names in print and build a lifelong relationship with writing.
Didn’t get a chance to join us?
The Half-Half-Half-Half-Half Marathon may be over, but you can certainly still make a real impact at 826DC. Here are three great ways to do that:
1) You can still donate to the campaign here.
2) If you are interested in participating in or potentially sponsoring a future event like this one, let us know.
3) Fundraisers like the Half-Half-Half-Half-Half Marathon help fund everything that 826DC does, including publishing some pretty awesome young people. You can pre-order the latest book by our students here.