A ‘journey’ is defined as an act of travelling from one place to another. However, the most important part of any journey isn’t simply about getting from point A to point B, but rather about the experiences you have along the way.
From now until race day, we will be highlighting the fundraising journeys of our Boston Marathon® Team Samaritans runners. Team Samaritans is comprised of 12 amazing people, from college students and helpline volunteers to young entrepreneurs and C-Level executives. All who are selected have compelling reasons why they run and, more importantly, why they want to run for Samaritans.
For some, they simply love to run and want to help raise awareness and funding. For others, it’s a way to honor someone that they’ve personally lost to suicide, like team member Elsa Froggatt Brown. Elsa is originally from Hackney, North London and is in her third year at Harvard studying Human Evolutionary Biology. Sadly, Elsa lost two friends to suicide when she was 16 years old. During the pandemic lockdown in the UK, she found running to be a great way to keep herself both mentally and physically healthy. “I think now, more than ever, with the pandemic, we need to raise awareness and make a push to remove the stigma surrounding mental health.”
And then there are those that have first-hand knowledge of the help and support that Samaritans provides. Team Samaritans runner Abigail Murphy, a Massachusetts native, is one of those people. As a former helpline volunteer for many years, Abigail has witnessed the amazing impact that Samaritans has when it comes to suicide prevention, awareness, and grief support. Because of her personal experience as a volunteer, she’s dedicating this years’ Boston Marathon® run to all of the strong and courageous people that have called the helpline. “One thing that has stuck with me all these years after I volunteered was the Samaritans saying: “You are not alone.”, and I feel that now more than ever with my team.”
This year’s goal is to raise $150,000. All funds raised by our runners will benefit Samaritans’ suicide prevention services, including SafePlace meetings, Survivor to Survivor visits, suicide prevention workshops and our 24/7 Helpline, all free to the public.
Thanks to the John Hancock Non-Profit Marathon Program and our amazing dedicated runners, this is the 15th consecutive year that Samaritans has a Boston Marathon® Team.
To support Abigail Murphy visit: https://www.givengain.com/ap/abigail-murphy-raising-funds-for-samaritans-inc/
To support Elsa Froggatt Brown visit: https://www.givengain.com/ap/elsa-froggatt-brown-raising-funds-for-samaritans-inc/
To donate to #TeamSamaritans, visit www.givengain.com/cc/samaritansinc2022/
To learn more about Samaritans and suicide prevention, visit us at samaritanshope.org.
