In a display of endurance and determination, about 12 staff members of Mary’s Meals Liberia participated and reached the finish line of the 2024 Liberia Marathon held in Monrovia recently.
The organization is one of many organizations that participated in the 10-kilometer footrace category of the marathon on November 24, 2024, starting from the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital in Sinkor and ended at the Samuel Kanyan Doe Sport Complex in Paynesville.
Mary’s Meals is a world-leading charitable movement, feeding more than 2.4 million children every school day in 17 countries. The organization has been supporting children in Liberia with school meals since 2006 and is currently serving school meals to more than 100,000 children in Bong, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, and Montserrado Counties.
In an official Facebook post posted on early Sunday morning at the start of the race, the organization extended a pre-congratulatory message to its team members participating in the marathon and said the team was running in support of the organization, including raising awareness.
“Congratulations to our staff members running in support of Mary’s Meals in today’s #Marathon (November 24, 2024). We wish you all a successful race. If you are running in the marathon and you wish to know more about our work, please meet with one of our team members wearing our t-shirt at the race venue or read about us here: https://www.marysmeals.org.”
The event provided an opportunity not only for the organization to raise awareness for its work in Liberia but also for the organization’s staff members to network, have fun, and stay fit. It can be recorded that in August 2022, the organization had its first marathon experience when it was represented by eight of its employees, including a wheelchair runner who crossed the finish line at the Samuel Kanyan Doe Sport Complex.
This year, the Mary’s Meals Liberia’s runners included staff members from its offices in Bong, Bomi, and Montserrado Counties.
Speaking in a brief telephone interview after the race, Menue Bainda, the communications and sponsor a school manager of Mary’s Meals Liberia, explained that his team was one of the strongest teams to finish the race early and further said that through the event, his organization was introduced to more than 500 people, including runners, organizers, volunteers, and people who stood along the runway to cheer runners.
“We are grateful to our staff who participated in the race and to those who cheered us along the way, both online and offline. Every step we took today was meant to reemphasize our commitments to providing a daily nutritious meal to children in school.”
“The run today was a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when we work together. The energy, support, and determination seen in our team today were incredible, and I am glad that we made it together. Our shirts and our banners, as well as our social media posts, grabbed the attention of many people, including every runner we met at the marathon, empowering them to know about the work of Mary’s Meals.”