the reason for the madness

I've been blogging for a little over a week now, but already I feel I've gone too long without explaining the primary reason that I'm running the Boston Marathon® at all. Please indulge me as I remedy that now.

As anyone who's visited my Firstgiving page knows, I hail from the West. In March of this year--sitting in my parents' house in Laurel, Montana, population 6,605--I had the sudden realization that I needed to do two things I had always meant to do at some point before I died, and I needed to do them now:

1) Give back. 2) Try a city.

I had a friend serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the time, and from the little I knew of what she did, the VISTA program sounded promising. I hopped onto their website and scrolled through thousands of applications in the cities that interested me--Seattle, Chicago, D.C., NYC, and Boston.

I started with just two applications as my top picks, both for positions at education-related organizations. I found another fifteen or so options as back up, but I'm so proud to say that now, 8 months and 2000 miles later, I am currently serving at one of those original two standouts. Boston Partners in Education gave me a chance to give back.

I had every opportunity in the world growing up in Laurel. My public school teachers were all fantastic, and my parents also understood the value of education for their children. In high school, I was able to earn a scholarship that paid nearly all of my college tuition, and my college experience at a public university proved to be as rewarding as my earlier education.

I serve at Boston Partners in Education for one reason: not all kids get the opportunities that I've had, and that needs to change.

Boston Partners' mission is to provide the Boston public school children with focused, individualized, in-school support. They've been around since 1966, and they continue to enthusiastically receive the support of volunteers and corporations year after year because their programs work.

Already in my few months here, I've seen this firsthand. I participate in two of Boston Partners' programs, Math Rules! and Power Lunch. I'm sure I'll be regaling you with stories about the wonderful experiences I have with both of these programs as this blog progresses, but for now, let me say that my short time participating in them has already shown me how well the programs run and what great results they produce.

I believe in the work of Boston Partners. It's why--despite the less than ample government stipend received through AmeriCorps for service--I work harder at this job than I have at any other job in the past. It's why I check my work email on weekends; it's why I work on our database after hours; it's why I am staying late to post this blog entry. Whether it's through direct service like working with kids, or through indirect service like updating our website--I want to make a difference in the life of a child.

If this is something you believe in as well, please consider making a donation to this cause. Visit www.firstgiving.com/runkellyrun to donate to Boston Partners and support my marathon endeavor.

Thank you for reading, and happy Thanksgiving!