October Charity of the Month: Soles4Souls

Charity of the Month is the newest way Team Tizzel is helping to support some very worthy organizations. As part of this program, we will dedicate a post to a charity that we will sponsor through the month by donating Holly's training run money.

September: In September we sponsored a scholarship at USC to honor the memory of a young man that lost his life in a freak lightning storm in Southern California (article). We will be donating $100 plus a matching gift to USC in honor of Nick Fagnano. You can still donate by following this link.

October's Charity:

http://soles4souls.org/our-mission

Last year we introduced you to Eddie Vega, a runner we met while Holly was participating in the Pocatello (Idaho) Marathon. He was running the full 26.2 miles barefoot. His goal was to set the Guinness Book of World's Records for running a marathon barefoot in all 50 states and 7 continents. He set out with this goal in mind in order to help raise awareness for Soles4Souls, an organization dedicated to providing basic needs to people around the world.

Eddie has been very busy and we are happy to report he now has two records: 50 barefoot marathons in a calendar year and 10 barefoot marathons in 10 consecutive days. Great job Eddie!

Whenever we read Eddie's Facebook page or articles about his accomplishments, the focus always shifts to Soles4Souls. Here's part of an article about Eddie (article link from Guam Sports Network):

"It all started out as an idea in the Fall of 2013 to help promote his non-profit Soles4Soles organization which, ironically, helps people in need around the world with shoes and clothing. 

Eddie ‘Barefoot Bandito’ Vega, a 1978 graduate of JFK High School, just accomplished something no other human has done in the world, and that is to run 50 barefoot marathons in a calendar year – breaking the mark on July 3, 2014 during the CAR Summer 7 Day Five Marathon Series in Long Beach, CA."

We received an email from Eddie updating us on his fundraising progress and goals for the remaining year:

"First of all, I want to THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your generous contribution to my past Barefoot Marathon fundraising drives. Because of your support, I was able raise over $7,000 which provided over 7,000 pairs of brand new shoes to impoverished children in the Philippine islands of Mindanao and Leyte.

 

It is said that to really understand someone, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. There are over 300 million children worldwide who do not have shoes or own adequate footwear so I decided honor them by running a barefoot marathon in all 50 States within the 2014 calendar year. Within seven months of starting my goal, I set two new Guinness World Records:

1) "Most Barefoot Marathons Run in One Year" with 66 so far and a goal of 100 by year end.

2) "Most Barefoot Marathons Run on Consecutive Days" with 10 completed on 7/7/2014.

This is my LAST fundraising drive for 2014. I am less than halfway towards my goal of raising $15,000 and I desperately need your help in order to reach this target.

Please help me raise money to provide these impoverished children with valuable protection from harmful wounds and infectious diseases. Through the Soles4Souls charity program, 100% of your donation will go towards providing a pair of shoes to under-privileged children living in the Philippines and the Pacific Islands."

Please click this button to make your 100% tax-deductible donation online:

http://www.gofundme.com/barefootbandito

Learn more about Eddie at his Facebook page.