By COLlive reporter
Record amounts of participants join Team Friendship, a peer-to-peer fundraising initiative, in impacting the lives of participants and individuals with special needs. along the way.
Team Friendship is setting its sights on yet another year of growth and expansion. Originally founded as a peer-to-peer fundraising initiative benefiting Friendship Circle, the team has since blossomed into a community of endurance event enthusiasts, eager to make a difference in the lives of individuals with special needs.
Since its founding in 2011, 1,820 Team Friendship participants have raised nearly $5 million for Friendship Circle, empowering their mission to end the social alienation that painfully impacts society’s most vulnerable population.
Despite the formidable effort fundraising and training for endurance events demands, it is the lingering commitment to help others long after they’re back home that is most impressive about Team Friendship participants.
When Team Friendship member, Yehuda, was vacationing in New Mexico, he met a woman who shared his passion for marathon running. In the midst of their conversation, Yehuda mentioned his involvement with Team Friendship, describing the inspiring cause the team supports. The woman, Martha, was visibly moved by his description of Friendship Circle.
As the single mother of a daughter with special needs, Martha had long sought the guidance and emotional support to nurture her family in spite of her challenging circumstances. On Yehuda’s recommendation, Martha reached out to her local Friendship Circle chapter, and began attending programs regularly.
Now an active participant in Friendship Circle activities, Martha credits that brief conversation in New Mexico as a turning point in her and her daughter’s lives.
Coinciding with their impactful achievements and continuous growth, Team Friendship a program of Friendship Circle International has set ambitious goals for the upcoming endurance events season. Their aim is for 425 individuals to compete for the team, raising more than $1.3 million.
These funds will enable 875 new friendships between teen volunteers and individuals with special needs, fortifying Friendship Circle’s primary mission of ending loneliness.
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To join Team Friendship or support a great cause, visit TeamFriendship.org
…. each of the FC directors who individually make all this amazing stuff happen
Making ‘friends’ so basic and yet many people do not focus on it.
Great idea!!