On the 28th and 29th of May 2022, we will hold our second edition of the Make Me Smile (Virtual) Global Peace Run.
This year, in light of recent events, the focus of the run will not only be on providing people in Kenya with a sustainable food source but also to raise funds for immediate relief in Ukraine.
You find all details under the registration form.
What is the MMS Global Peace Run?
On the weekend of the 28th and 29th of May, people around the world will run again for Make Me Smile Kenya and the Ukrainian Education Platform.
The run will take place virtually. But we will try to organise small events and running groups in different cities who can meet and run together if the situation allows.
This means that there is no set route or city where the run will take place.
So everyone can choose where, when and with whom they want to take part in the run over the weekend.
Signing up
If you want to start as a private runner, all you have to do is to sign up and pay the participation fee of 15 Euros. If you live in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland, your participation fee will even be tax-deductible.
We will then send you our starter number per mail which you can then print and put on your back so that everybody sees what you are running for.
If you pay 3 Euros more, we will send you a starter package with some goodies. Of course, you can also pick up your starter pack at our office in Vienna. We would love to see you.
The run
You run the distance you want to run.
Record the whole thing with a running app (Runtastic, Komoot, Strava…there are endless possibilities) and post a screenshot in our Facebook event or Instagram with the hashtag #mmsglobalrun
We are optimistic that it will be possible to run together in groups in different cities this year. We will communicate this in time, and then you and your friends can join!
What are we running for.
One half of the proceeds will go to our partner organization Ukrainian Education Platform (UEP) who are currently in the process of setting up emergency shelters for people fleeing their own country, especially for women and children. They have also evacuated 200 orphans so far who would not have been able to flee without their support. All people, but especially the children, receive psychological support. In 13 active distribution centers near the conflict areas, they support people with the delivery of essential medicines and food.
We would like to emphasize that the situation is extremely difficult for all concerned, but especially for children who have to grow up in out-of-home care, without their parental care and thus without a proper family safety net.
Your donation will support the Ukrainian Education Platform in one of these three specific actions:
- Helping families with children arriving in Lviv (Western Ukraine).
- Supporting orphanages evacuated from the eastern part of Ukraine
- Providing shelter for people fleeing through a network of other partners across Ukraine.
The second half of proceeds will run into our vertical gardening project.
Two years ago we started this pilot project in which we equipped families with vertical gardens. The families were chosen because they couldn’t meet the nutritional needs of their HIV-positive children. The gardens were supposed to exactly meet those needs and allow the families to get an extra income.
After 251 gardens we decided that we are going to continue the project. The gardens continuously provide the families and especially the sick children with enough vitamins and minerals to fulfill their daily needs. Furthermore, the gardens are resistant to the new climatic challenges we are facing in the region. The floods are getting stronger and the draught seasons longer. Because of the way the gardens are constructed they need very little water and also survive floodings, since most of the plants are higher up.
Every garden costs 60 Euros and supports 4-5 people in a household.
So every runner will ensure the food security of one person.
