Nepal holds a special place in my heart, so when a massive earthquake hit the country in April 2015, I spearheaded a grassroots fundraising effort, “Popsicles for Nepal,” to help raise funds for Direct Relief, an outstanding relief agency providing medical supplies to those in need.

It started with our Roosevelt Running Club where I offered popsicles to our kiddos and their parents in exchange for a donation. They completely blew me away with their generosity and enthusiasm and inspired me to take it to another team I help coach, the Kids Corner Coyotes through Santa Barbara Running. Once again, the response was overwhelming. Everybody wanted to do something to help.

From there, with the suggestion of one Santa Barbara’s elite runners, Cindy Abrami, we turned it into a challenge, “The Popsicle Mile for Nepal,” in which runners in our community ran a mile around the track and after each lap were required to consume a popsicle before taking off on the next lap (similar to the beer mile). You can imagine the fun, especially when throwing in some costumes. It doesn’t get any sillier!

 

From there it transformed into “The Popsicles for Nepal Plank-off” with athletes in one of our local morning mat pilates classes holding a contest to see who could hold a plank the longest while consuming four popsicles. The winner, Drea McClarty, held her plank for over 10 minutes!

Popsicles for Nepal also took hold with other kids who were inspired to set up popsicle stands in their neighborhoods to help raise funds for the earthquake victims.

With the generosity of our kids and running community, this grassroots effort brought in over $3,000 for Direct Relief in the span of just a few weeks. It doesn’t get any better or easier. I’m so proud of everybody who came together to help Nepal.

#peoplehelpingpeople #dowhatyoucan #italladdsup

www.directrelief.org (Ranked #1 on Charity Navigator’s Ten Best Charities in the U.S.)