stephan alessiwhatever happens, happens

Dearest Friends and Family,

So it’s official: I’m running my first Marathon this year!

The opportunity arose somewhat by chance.  About three months ago, I received an email from my  High School Alumni Office promising an (extremely hard to get) entry into the IMG New York City Marathon in exchange for a fundraising commitment to the  Somarela Fund. I have felt extremely grateful for all the good things that have come my way in the last year, and I am excited about this opportunity to give something back to the world that will benefit those less fortunate than I have been.

The more I researched the Somarela Fund, the more I knew it was an initiative I wanted to support.  Founded as a living memorial to environmentalist and humanitarian J. Player Crosby,  the Fund is dedicated to helping the youth of southern Africa.  The challenges the Fund faces are great.  Botswana, where the Fund has its community service headquarters, has one of the highest HIV/AIDS populations in the world, with an infection rate of nearly 40 percent among 15-40 year-olds.  This epidemic has left over 10,000 children orphaned and in critical need of medical and social services in Botswana alone.

The Somarela Fund attempts to tackle problems such as this by directly funding existing grass roots initiatives.  For example, the Fund has provided enough financial support to transform the tiny Bana Ba Letasi (BBL) operation, run for a long time by one woman, into a full service community center providing for over 300 children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Fund also supports cultural exchange and service-learning trips in an “attempt to take down barriers between advantaged and disadvantaged youth.”

While the problems in southern Africa are large in scale, small contributions can make a huge difference to the people they aid.  For example, $35 buys a week’s worth of food and basic supplies for a Botswana family of four.  So, how can one digital tech running (or slogging through)  26.2 miles of one of the world’s most affluent cities help people 8,000 miles away? Every year, ING Marathon runners raise an amazing amount of money for charity. I am honored to be one of those runners this year, and I am asking for your help to reach my fundraising goal of $3000  It’s super easy to donate- just visit my CrowdRise page and you can donate online.  Every little bit helps!

Thank you so much for your support, and you’re always welcome to come join me for a training run!

Sincerely yours,

Stephan Alessi

Donate Here!

StephanAlessi_SomeralaFund2011