Mile in My Shoes

Today, November 1, marks the beginning of early giving for our largest fundraising event of the year: Give to the Max Day.?When you give early to MiMS, you give us a head start on our big goals for the coming year.?Your support makes it possible for us to welcome even more new Members to the circle, help more of those Members become Alumni, give away more race entries to communities underrepresented in the running space, increase opportunities for learning and action around issues important to our Member communities, and?engage more FundRacers?to help us diversity and build our donor base. We are thrilled to announce that for Give to the Max Day 2024?we have put together a team of supporters committed to matching up to $20,000 of your donations?- our biggest match?ever! Please give today and help us?reach our goal of $50,000?for Mile in My Shoes teams. Thanks to the incredible community support we received on Give to the Max Day in 2023,?Mile in My Shoes has been able to make a substantial impact in 2024. So far this year, MiMS has helped over?200 people run their first mile, awarded GPS running watches to 97?Resident Members who reached Alumni status,?and welcomed a more diverse crowd to our Downtown Run Around 5K by?giving away over 400 race entries. Support MiMS at https://lnkd.in/gnTDcD79

Marathon Weekend is almost upon us! Now's the time to donate! Here's one option to support Mile in My Shoes.

When Arch Insurance Group Inc. Chief Actuary, Andy Becker, proposed a fundraising effort tied to their Tough Mudder event, it was a no-brainer for Laura Rapacz to suggest Mile in My Shoes. Laura is currently serving as Treasurer of the MiMS Board of Directors and is a Run Mentor for team Union Gospel Mission, a transitional housing and addiction recovery center in St. Paul, MN. The team of 13 “Risky Business” Tough Mudders agreed that the values and mission of MiMS – embracing challenges to transform ourselves, one another, and our community – was a perfect fit. Mile in My Shoes would like to give a big WOOOOO of support to Arch Insurance “Risky Business” as they tackle Tough Mudder Poconos on Saturday, September 28th! You can support the team via their fundraising site: https://lnkd.in/eHMz6-Ar Risky Business team members: Andy Becker, Kwabena Boateng, Erica Jansen, Stoio Kachev, Mark Karmiy, Huy Le, Kyle Leonard, Zach Marx, Ben Murty, Danny Musil, Sam Nolley, Laura Rapacz, & Andrew Sena If you are curious about how to FundRace a race of your own, check out our website. There's no fundraising minimum, just lots of sweet swag to earn! https://lnkd.in/e6Dn6q-D.

We are actively seeking our next Program Director! As we say goodbye today to Beth, we are looking forward to meeting our next leader. The Mile in My Shoes Program Director is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day operations of our program, including managing program activities and events, and providing direct support to the volunteers who run our teams. The ideal candidate will be outgoing, organized, creative, and have a passion for building and maintaining relationships. If you are or think you may be interested in this role, please check out the position description linked below and apply as soon as possible. We would love for our next Program Director to be passionate about running and for the communities we work with, so we ask for and appreciate all the help you can give in sharing this opportunity with your networks. Please share and tag - thank you! https://lnkd.in/eha7h2J

Hennepin Healthcare has been a sponsor of the Downtown Run Around since YEAR ONE, and we are so grateful they are back as a silver sponsor in 2024! We've had many Hennepin Healthcare employees as Run Mentors over the years, because these folks are truly committed to the health of our community - people young and old, housed and unhoused - all people deserve high-quality care. Thank you Hennepin Health and we will see you on Saturday!

Today we are giving a big thumbs up to our NEWEST sponsor of the Downtown Run Around for Mile in My Shoes, Kemps LLC Ice Cream! Ok technically they are called "Kemps" but let's be honest about what we are eating. They of course also make delicious milk and cottage cheese and all sorts of dairy products, and they are based right here in Minnesota. When one of our Run Mentors, Stephanie Beebe, asked Kemps her employer about sponsoring the event they quickly agreed to a Silver Sponsorship. We are so grateful to our amazing Run Mentors and their supportive companies - thank you Kemps! Visit them at Kemps LLC!

We have a chance to secure a $5k donation - but we need to raise an additional $5k by May 31! One of the most powerful impacts of Mile in My Shoes is our Members’ rewriting of their own narrative. Changing the way you see yourself is a powerful tool. Crossing the Downtown Run Around finish line in just a few weeks will be a huge milestone for our Members, and an opportunity to replace a negative label - such as addict, or criminal - with “5K race finisher.” An anonymous donor who knows the power of that transformation personally has come to us with an exciting challenge: If our community can rally together to raise $5,000 between today and May 31, they will donate AN ADDITIONAL $5,000 to our Downtown Run Around campaign! What can $5k do for Mile in My Shoes? That’s enough to cover full sets of new gear for THIRTY new Members! But the best part is if we can raise that in the next 10 days, we’ll secure enough to start SIXTY new Members! Running with MiMS is truly transformational. Help us to double our impact by donating today at the link below! https://lnkd.in/gxX4mZYS

"Running has had a huge impact on my mental health and my health in general because hitting goals makes me feel so much better about myself. It just makes me feel good about that next goal or the next challenge. I know I can push myself to do hard things." Thank you so much to Gina, Levi, Chad, Jamie, Greg and Katie for the incredible conversation on Monday night on the Intersection of Running and Mental Health. While May is #MentalHealthMonth, this discussion is one we need to remember year round. Special thanks to Mile in My Shoes for their partnership in hosting this event! You can watch the full recording here: https://ow.ly/mS2c50RRAC8 #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

Get your phones out! Text your friends! Tell them to check out Defining You Fitness, a longtime sponsor of the Downtown Run Around for Mile in My Shoes. Back in 2017, Defining You reached out to us about getting involved. Through the years, members of their team have been Run Mentors, FundRacers, social event hosts and, for many years, sponsors of this event. Check out their studio, get strong and fit, and say THANKS for supporting our teams! https://lnkd.in/geuAe6R9

We see you Choice Bank a three-time sponsor of the Downtown Run Around for Mile in My Shoes ! Choice Bank is guided by a "People First" approach, which makes them a natural fit to partner with Mile in My Shoes. Thank you for your consistent support of our runners! We can't wait to run with you on June 8! We are still looking for a few more sponsors - but we are getting thisclose to our goal! Please message us to learn more! https://lnkd.in/gWfGYcRp