Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Take a Run, Win a Smile

Dear friends,

Coming to the realization of the impact each of us can have on the life of others is one of the most enlightening moments in an individual’s life. A group of friends all born and raised in Colombia came to the point in life where we want to take our philanthropic quest to the next level. Aware of the moral obligation we all have in leaving a positive vestige in other human beings and especially in children, we now undertake this path; which holds as main target and driver  helping Colombia out of violence and poverty. Our common understanding is that through education and sports we can open infinite doors of possibilities, and more importantly, can give our little grain to support this audacious journey.

Instead of each one of us supporting various institutions we have decided to create a group called "42x42x42: Take a Run, Win a Smile".

With this project we will support Fórmula Sonrisas, a foundation created in 2003 that supports education, well-being and self-esteem through the practice of sports for low income children. This foundation provides PE classes to public schools that don´t have budget to incorporate PE on their curriculum; by 2003 only 10% of public schools had PE classes for their students, nowadays the figure is much better but there is still a long way to go. The raised resources will be donated to the benefit of 800 boys and girls living in Villa Lorena; a neighborhood in Villavicencio´s foothills with a strong history of violence and poverty (Villavicencio is the capital of the Meta Department, Colombia).This community is one amongst the five which the Foundation supports by bringing to their children the opportunity of professional Physical education and guidance. Our mission is to create a running club with 42 members led by 7 team leads. Each team lead is committed to run the Miami Marathon or half Marathon of Miami on February 2nd, 2014, and raise USD $7.000 each for a minimum total of The USD 42.000; but we are going for more.

We are writing to you today because we want to invite you to be a part of this journey. Even though it will not be easy, we can guarantee that your support will have an impact on the children. This will require your time, support, ideas, leadership and more importantly excitement to ensure we can accomplish this task. We envision the 42x42x42 as the foundation program that in the future will support scholarships for low income students amongst other things.

Currently this is the list of individuals that are committed as 42x42x42 Team Leads

1) Ricardo Sarmiento (Vice President, Talisman Energy) resident in Bogota, Colombia

2) Omar Campos (Global Program Development Manager, Hewlett Packard) resident in San Francisco, California

3) Jorge Estrada (Sr. Vice President, Stork Technical Services) resident in Houston, Texas

4) Emilio Pombo (Executive VP, Compass Porter Novelli) resident in Bogotá, Colombia

5)  Lina Sandoval (Manager Government Affairs, Nexen) Resident in Bogotá, Colombia

6) Carlos Enrique Barros (Senior Drilling Advisor, BP Jordan) Resident in Bogotá, Colombia

7) Sebastián Lombana (Abogado Comercial, CENIT Transporte y Logística de Hidrocarburos) Resident in Bogotá.

We are open to comments, questions and any innovative ideas that will revolutionize education and make globalization an opportunity for all.

We sincerely appreciate your time and consideration.

How can you contribute?

  1. 1. Start training and come run with us the 42K or 21K in Miami
  2. 2. If you don´t run, but as well as us you love the project, sponsor someone to run for you and for Colombia or help us donating any amount at www.formulasmiles.com in the “42 Take a Run, Win a Smile” button. Any ideas are welcome, we will spare no hands!

Regards,

The 42x42x42 Running Club

 

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MY BEST FRIEND, is our sponsored program, the main goal of which is to contribute in a direct way to the children integral development through the Foundation’s three pillars: education, health and sports; thus preventing school dropouts, child labor and gang formation, among several other problems.

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