Every year on the first Sunday in May, for the past six years, I’ve done the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. I learned about this run when I lived in Philly right after college. It’s huge - the largest 10 mile race in the country, with over 35,000 runners, running through many different Philly neighborhoods, it's a staple of the city. It’s hard to go on a run without seeing someone wearing a Broad Street Run T-shirt.

On March 23, I found out the inevitable - that what would have been my seventh Broad Street Run this spring was postponed to the fall (on a day that I can’t make it, if it even still happens). I knew it was coming, but it still felt like a shock all the same, a loss of the annual traditions that has kept me connected to my friends and time in Philly, a city I love. What would I do without my annual pre-run carbo load with friends of spaghetti bread? (That’s bread with spaghetti inside.) What would I do if I couldn’t stand in line for 30 minutes waiting to go to the bathroom before the race (a core part of the experience)? What would I do without the theme song to Rocky blasting at the start line (and once, even high-fiving the Mayor as I ran by)?

My roommate encouraged me to continue to train anyways and host my own solo run here

(an idea I’d been toying with), with friends cheering me on in support. It was both an exciting and scary idea (could I do it in a mask? what if my friends didn’t show up? what if I didn’t finish with all my friends watching?), but I decided to go for it. For weeks, I continued to run, and as I got stronger, I could run further to pretty and new places (ie, further than my regular 1-mile radius from my house where I’d spent 99% of my time since March).

Another traditional part of the run has been, every other year or so, to use it as an opportunity fundraise for an organization. I’ve found that many of my friends, family, and family friends were excited by the opportunity to support me, and also had the financial resources to do so. I generally raise around $500. It added an extra layer of significance to my run, a chance to move resources to organizations that could use the extra financial support, to make training for the run not just about me.

This year, as we launched the UU COVID19 Emergency Fund, it was clear that that was where I should direct my fundraising efforts. With COVID19 highlighting all the systemic inequalities that existed previously in such a stark way, I’ve been thinking and learning a lot more about the importance of moving financial resources. I’ve given more this year than I ever have (including pledging to donate my $1200 stimulus check to several funds, including the UU Mass Action one) and as I continue to dig more into this fundraising work for our partner orgs at UU Mass Action, it was a special opportunity to bring in my personal community to my work of raising $50,000 by June 1st.

And my community responded - I raised more than I ever have for my run ($1,429 with more on the way). I aways write haikus for people who donate, and give a personalized gift to those who give over $50 (usually a crossword puzzle I make based on the person’s interest) . And I have my work cut out for me - I’ve received more $50+ donations this year than any other.

What I learned from all this is that people (especially those with some amount of financial security) are looking for meaningful places to give right now, more than I’ve experienced before. It’s a clear form of taking action, in a world that is terrifying and uncertain. And my community was excited to support me, because this was important to me, and they trusted that if I cared about this fund, it must be going to good places. This fund is supporting people in prisons (where conditions are terrifying), immigrant, and environmental justice communities we work with at UU Mass Action - all issues I care deeply about, and which are completely connected to each other.

So in a time where we are encouraged to isolate, let’s come together as UUs from across the state to show up for our partner organizations in this way, in addition to all the other organizing and justice work we are continuing to do. I learned from my personal fundraising experience that this is a time to reach out to your communities, your people, to those who have the ability to give, to share this fund as one way to take meaningful action right now in the face of covid. I know that there is class diversity and different financial realities in the UU community, especially in this time. I invite those of you who are able, who have some financial security and/or access to wealth, to join me and the over 100 others in making a gift to our fund today to help us reach our goal of $50,000 by June 1. And exciting news as of this past week, your donation will be DOUBLED for the next $10,000 we raise.