40-Time Marathon Runner Runs 125th Boston Marathon to Support FamilyAid and homeless Children and Parents
Brenda Penland is training hard to run the Boston Marathon on October 11, but Brenda’s goal is even bigger than completing 26.2 miles — She is raising funds in support FamilyAid, a Boston-based nonprofit that empowers children and parents facing homelessness to secure and sustain housing and build strong foundations for their futures.
This will be Brenda’s 40th marathon and her first time running in Boston. She runs on FamilyAid’s team because “I have been a teacher for 32 years and when I saw that this organization helps homeless children and their families, I knew it was calling my name.”
Boston now has the third highest number of families experiencing homelessness on any given night in the country. Over the past year, FamilyAid provided 3,000 children and parents with the shelter, housing, and the supportive services needed to sustain or return to stable housing. During the pandemic, FamilyAid added emergency initiatives that provided 580,000 pounds of essential food and supplies to families weekly and $1.1 million in direct financial assistance to ensure families could pay for food, utilities, and other basic needs. The organization also opened a new, safe refuge shelter for families who arrived in Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center emergency rooms seeking a place to stay. Families who are placed in housing by FamilyAid have a 99% success rate of remaining housed a year later.
Through the John Hancock Marathon Non-Profit Program, and the dedication and support of FamilyAid’s Marathon team, FamilyAid hopes to raise critically needed funds to create lasting solutions to the family homelessness crisis in our community. To learn more about FamilyAid Boston, please visit www.familyaidboston.org.
To make a donation to Brenda, please visit her fundraising page.
