Our partners in health: Stride With Haiti, athletic fundraisers

Lindsay Olinde and Katie Delbecq are not only standing with Haiti, they are striding with Haiti—and bringing others along for the journey. The two first-year graduate students at the Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, organized the “Stride With Haiti” campaign to raise money and support for Partners In Health.

Their website, www.stridewithhaiti.com is an open source resource for organizing fundraising events—offering tools and advice for athletes looking to support PIH in Haiti through sporting events. The site includes downloads for publicity posters, designs for t-shirts, as well as a link to PIH’s event organizing resource webpage.

The inspiration for these events originates with Lindsay’s close friend, Chris Strock, an engineer working with PIH in Haiti. Both women are also interested in the geological phenomena of earthquakes and tectonic shifts.

Stride With Haiti began as a marathon to raise money for PIH. “[The race was] intended as a way to get athletes (or the mildly athletically inclined) to run/play/etc. for PIH,” wrote Lindsay in an email.

Taking place over the Valentine’s Day weekend, the event raised over $1,000 for PIH.

Not content to stop there, Stride With Haiti began helping other communities organize similar events. On February 20, a group in Baton Rouge, LA will walk around City Park Lake. On March 27, a 10K race is scheduled in Richmond, VA.

In addition to the races, Katie and Lindsay are also brewing up the natural companion to any sporting event—beer. They are planning social events and selling six-packs of homebrewed beer to raise money for PIH.

Read more about their activities at www.stridewithhaiti.com.