By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
This May, Phoebe covered 391 miles for the kids of Sankama.
Well, Mali Rising's first-ever virtual walking challenge -- Miles for Mali -- is in the books! This May, thirty-three volunteers walked more than 2,400 miles to raise $2,100 to build a new school for the kids of Sankama, Mali. (You can still be part of the effort by donating to the school!)
We had a great time with our volunteer walkers, and everyone did a great job. However, one walker (well, runner as it turns out) really stood out -- Phoebe Mathew from Holland, Pennsylvania.
Why did she stand out you ask? While the rest of us we're struggling to hit our 40-mile or 160-mile goals, Phoebe racked up an incredible 391 miles!
We asked Phoebe how in the world she managed to do this. Phoebe answered, "I love the outdoors! I wanted to challenge myself and would run about 2 hours a day to receive the stress of the day. Some days I would even do 3. Because I work full time, I would have to wake up super early just to jog for longer periods of time. It was exciting and challenged me."
Wow. This is even more amazing because Phoebe just happened to stumble across the volunteer opportunity on a volunteer website.
We hope Phoebe's hooked on helping out. She says, "It inspired me to realize the amount of work that children do just so that they can just get an education."
We send our gratitude to Phoebe and all of our walkers. If you're inspired to volunteer, sign up here to learn about ways you can help.
