Dear Family and Friends,

As a high school student I have been fortunate to participate in several varsity high school athletics: basketball, cross county running, track, and baseball. During these years and with encouragement from my parents, I have developed a love for running. I am ready and excited to run my first half marathon but not only for myself but for someone else. I have decided to “run for a purpose” and dedicate this first half marathon to a charitable organization: shoe4africa. This organization built the first pediatric hospital in East and Central Africa in 2015 and now they are building the first pediatric cancer hospital in Sub-Sahara Africa. In this region of Africa, 90% of the children who are diagnosed with cancer die because they are not able to receive medical care for their cancer diagnosis. In the US, the rate is 14%.

Please join me and help saves the lives of children in Africa by “running with me” and offering a donation of any amount to shoe4africa. I promise to run for them and I will also run with you in my heart. Hopefully, this first half marathon will be a springboard for me to run more races and remind me that running for a purpose is always a higher call than running for a personal achievement…. although both are possible in the same race!

Thank you and as always Godspeed,

John Paul Schaefer

PS: All donations are tax deductible and any amount would be gratefully appreciated.