Charity Matters
Tag

Boston Marathon 2013

Browsing
Charity Matters Inspiration

And the Medal goes to….

Medals for mettleOn Wednesday, I shared the beautiful story of Brent Cunningham’s giving his Boston Marathon medal to a stranger who hadn’t finished due to the terrorist attack. That story  lead me to this and it seems that medals bring out the best in everyone.

Something that Dr. Steven Isenberg realized the day after he finished the 2003 Chicago Marathon, and went to visit a friend who was hospitalized. Unsure of what to say, even as a surgeon, Dr. Isenberg pulled his finishers’ medal from his pocket and placed it around his friend’s neck. “I want you to have this,” he said. “You are running a much more difficult marathon than the one I completed.”

Sadly, his friend didn’t win his race but had told Dr. Isenberg how much he treasured the medal. Those words were the inspiration to start Medals4Mettle.  So in 2005, Dr. Isenberg formed the non-profit, to collect runner’s medals which could be donated to those who are battling serious illnesses and who have demonstrated courage and mettle in fighting their battle.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_WeXtK5XM]

Today, Medals4Mettle had awarded over 18,000 medals to recipients across the world. Medals have been awarded by Indy 500 race car drivers, Olympic athletes and individuals who want to experience the incredible joy of giving their hard-earned finisher’s medals to courageous human beings.

Currently, Medals4Mettle is humbly accepting donations of Boston Marathon finishers’ medals from this year, or past years, to be sent to their Boston area chapters. They will then place Medals4Mettle ribbons on them and award them to the courageous victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon and the first responders that raced to help them while respecting the privacy of all victims and family members.

I think everyone is a winner in this race.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2013 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Keep Reading
By
Charity Matters Inspiration

Love always wins, especially in Boston

boston-marathon-runner-from-ak-reunites-w-001As I have mentioned before my husband is both a tri-athlete and a marathon runner. He has never run the Boston Marathon but when he saw this story on Facebook, as many of you did, he shared it.

This was Laura Wellington’s Facebook post, about her experience moments from the finish line in the Boston Marathon.

As some of you know, I was 1/2 mile from the finish line when the explosion went off. I had no idea what was going on until I finally stopped and asked someone. Knowing that my family was at the finish line waiting for me, I started panicking, trying to call them. I started walking down Mass Ave towards Symphony Hall still not knowing where my family was.

I was able to get in touch with Bryan and found out he was with my family and they were safe. I was just so happy to hear his voice that I sat down and started crying. Just couldn’t hold it back. At that moment, a couple walking by stopped. The woman took the space tent off her husband, who had finished the marathon, and wrapped it around me.

She asked me if I was okay, if I knew where my family was. I reassured her I knew where they were and I would be ok. The man then asked me if I finished to which I nodded “no.” He then proceeded to take the medal off from around his neck and placed it around mine. He told me “you are a finisher in my eyes.” I was barely able to choke out a “thank you” between my tears.

Odds are I will never see this couple again, but I’m reaching out with the slim chance that I will be able to express to them just what this gesture meant to me. I was so in need of a familiar face at that point in time. This couple reassured me that even though such a terrible thing had happened, everything was going to be ok.

That couple was Brent Cunningham and his wife, from Sitka, Alaska. After Laura’s post went viral, ABC News tracked him down and Brent flew back to Boston to meet the stranger once again. Brent gave a tearful Laura a huge hug and said, “Evil may have won the battle but they’re not gonna win the war.  Love wins. Game over.”

Charity Matters.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/boston-marathon-bombing-evil-win-19006669

 Copyright © 2013 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Keep Reading
By