Running for Help

Below is a story on Running for Help, a non-profit group based out of San Diego. You can find a video interview with co-founder James McLaughlin at the bottom of the story. Visit Running for Help at runningforhelp.com


James McLaughlin was sitting on his couch at his Point Loma apartment with only a few weeks left until he graduated.
Like other soon-to-be graduates in his situation, he was pondering and reminiscing about his college days, his past, and his future. He had only one more race before his college running days would be over too. Spending four years on the cross-country and track and field teams at Point Loma Nazarene University had led him to fall in love with the sport of running. He had only briefly explored running in high school, having participated at the high school level for only one year before heading off to college. The transition to collegiate running his freshman year was tough, and McLaughlin often found himself questioning why he was sticking with it. Four years later he would be asking himself a similar question, while talking to his roommate Leo Zamudio.
“I was just talking about how I was done running. I wanted to continue, I wanted to run a marathon, but I was like ‘what did it mean?’ It’s more than just to run; it’s running for something, yourself or people who support you. I wanted to carry on for a purpose,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin and Zamudio would brainstorm the rest of the night and come up with the idea to start a post-collegiate running team that would support and spread awareness about causes they felt strongly about. Buying a domain name and coming up with a short-term plan resulted in Running for Help. It started with the basic idea of participating in local road races and running events to help spread information about a couple of other non-profit groups. Running for Help started with small initiatives, like wearing team jerseys and talking to people about what their organization supported.
“Sometimes you have to come up with your own purpose. I felt it was morally irresponsible to not do what you can, even if it’s just the little things, like wearing a jersey,” said McLaughlin.
Although Running for Help is only in its beginning stages of development and planning, the organization has already seen how small actions make a difference. One of the organizations they support is Luv Em Up, a group based in Lakeside, California. Luv Em Up is a ministry that works with people with special needs by providing opportunities to go on trips and attend Bible studies. Zamudio discovered Luv Em Up while attending a non-profit fair. He then attended the Church in Lakeside where the services are focused on people with both mental and physical needs.
“I just saw the need there,” said Zamudio. “I ended up referring others to the Luv Em Up church that I had worked with before; it’s just a great organization.”
Through his work at a dental supply company, McLaughlin was able to donate 67 computers to the organization, which are now being put to good use.
“They’re actually using the computers to set up a learning center. It’s cool to see that kind of result,” McLaughlin said. “That’s what I want to see more of.”
There are four organizations that Running for Help supports: Kiva, Love 146, Hannah’s House, and Luv Em Up. McLaughlin says that they are trying to focus more on the smaller, local non-profit groups like Luv Em Up and Hannah’s House.
“For a smaller non-profit, so much of what they receive goes back towards trying to raise money, the cash flows through. I want to be able to fill that void and make a difference for some of these organizations. People have no idea about some of the needs just here in San Diego, and we want to create public awareness,” said McLaughlin.
Both McLaughlin and Zamudio have big plans for growth and changes for the future of the organization. Both say its tough running a non-profit with jobs and school. McLaughlin works full-time and is looking into starting graduate school to continue his business education, and Zamudio is currently credentialing at UC Davis. Both say it enables them to appreciate how hard it is to run a non-profit and how much of a need there really is.
“It just comes down to people being able to do what they can. The more people you expose to needs, the more people they expose and so on,” said Zamudio. “I really felt if you have a passion should use that passion to help others that what we’re trying to do with our passion for running.”
McLaughlin is quick to say that their organization is far from unique. This kind of model of using sports and training to raise money for foundations is far from new, such as the popular Team in Training which raises money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research. But McLaughlin wants to distance himself from the stereotypical non-profit training groups.
“I’d like to see it (Running for Help) as more of a running club that supports other organizations. We want to be more focused on racing and training and see how we can help others by doing that.”
Doing this will require more corporate support for Running for Help. They are already an official U.S. Track and Field club, but still need to get the attention of more local businesses.
“Once we have more awareness about our group, we can get corporate sponsors. Times are tough but I think there is a market. People are always willing to help,” said McLaughlin.
The group has been spending time recruiting Point Loma alumni and friends to become advocates and tell others about Running for Help. They plan to run at least three to four races a year, and hopefully have booths set up at others. Zamudio and McLaughlin both say that it is a struggle to vie for people’s attention, but they enjoy the challenge.
“It’s fun as well, growing an organization. The idea is that we have been given something, it is not too much to give back,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin is coming off an injury, and has not been able to train to the extent that he would have liked, but hopes to be able to run a fast marathon in the future. Zamudio has not decided on any exact running goals, but expressed where he would like to see Running for Help in a couple of years.
“London 2012,” he said laughing.
Even though the option of running in the Olympics is non-existent for McLaughlin and Zamudio, both have been able to turn their passion into something that is worth running for.

Distance Learning

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.

~Norbet Platt

I will not make the argument "I'm just really busy" when I describe how I went about looking for an internship. Because, I feel every college student says it every day, and I'm just sick of hearing that statement. With that said, it seems like I am just really busy. Probably, in the total scheme I'm not, but I like to think I am at least. So I wasn't sure how I was going to fit in an internship this semester without going crazy. I am a journalism major, but wanted to do something along the lines of public relations. My attempts to get an internship over the summer failed miserably, I could not even get an e-mail response. After looking on the job board at PLNU, I applied for a position at Dawson Communications Group. Fortunately, the founder and only full-time employee, Karen Dawson went to Point Loma and was impressed with my resume. However, DCG is in Seattle, Washington area, which is kind of a long commute. But this internship shows how the vast change among the media world.
Over the entire semester, the internship was over e-mail and a few phone calls. I did not need to drive anywhere, log any specific hours or worry about being late. I worked when I wanted, as long as I got projects in before deadline. It might not have been the most intense or normal internship, but it worked out great. Karen has a great job, where she can work for companies she has a passion for. She focuses on parenting/family products and green tech companies for the most part. It opened my eyes that work doesn't have to fall into certain parameters, you can do what like in the medium you want. The rules are starting to change. Media is going digital, smaller companies are becoming favored and the environment matters. These might be scary times for the economy, but I also think they are good times. People are learning that consuming less does not mean sacrificing a satisfying lifestyle. My internship made me realize with good writing skills and networking, the public relations field can be highly demanding but very rewarding. For example, getting a small, start-up company into a major magazine is an exciting thing to do. It might require getting a lot of rejections, but it would not be as fun if it was easy.

'Tis the Season for Holiday Traffic

This Thanksgiving was the first time I have been home for the holiday since I left for college, which was over three ago. Usually, I just stay down in San Diego with family instead of flying or driving up, to save money or time. This year I had an opportunity to drive up with my girlfriend and some of her friends. The drive to Portland is around 17 hours, sometimes more but rarely less. The trip is usually broken up into two or three days to make it a little more managable. I have done the trip several times, it definately is not my favorite thing to do. But with friends in the car and splitting up the driving time, it really is not bad. Our way up went smooth, we all enjoyed our time back home in the Rose City. We needed to be back at school on Monday, so we left on Saturday and stayed at my grandparents home in Medford, which is less then an hour from the California border. We got up at seven and left at eight in the morning expecting around a 12 hour drive, at a leisurly pace. It was foggy going through Northern California, but that was nothing to what we were about to experience.

We were 30 minutes south of Stockton, when we saw our first brakelights. It a weird thing to be stuck in Central California, where there was no houses, stores, or any sign of life except dairy cows and be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I thought selfishly "Hopefully it's just an accident." Meaning that once we passed it, cars would reach normal speeds. But for the next 10 hours we hit traffic on and off. It made a 12 hour trip last 16 and a half. I truly felt small traveling through California this time. The sheer magnitude of people on this planet can be expereinced on a rural freeway with thousands of cars around you. We did our best to keep each other entertained and sane. We counted our blessings that our car was not braking down. Or that we did not get into a accident. I am hoping that I won't have to make that drive many more times. I thought about the different people driving the same road I was on. And I am sure we were all thinking the same questions. Why are there so many people? And when is there not going to be?

Don't Bolt for the Exit

Disney's 47th animated feature came out last week and I had the opportunity to take my little brother to see it while on Thanksgiving break. If this has been one of Disney's few previous movies, such as Meet the Robinsons or Chicken Little I would have probably done whatever it took to convince my brother he did not want to go. But the previews actually caught my attention and I did not mind watching my first Disney animated movie since Lilo and Stitch in 2002. The past few years it seemed as though Disney was trying to ride the coattails of Pixar. Going for movies with big ideas, but having little to show for it. With the latest release, Bolt, it seems as though Disney did a good job in recapturing a little bit of that old magic. It had funny characters, an interesting story and solid animation. But it the end, Bolt, was simple and cute. Which is what Disney does best.
The story follows that adventures of a German Shepard named Bolt (John Travolta). He is a major television star that is tricked into believing that his powers on t.v. are actually real. He is confined to a trailer when not shooting and is protected from ever seeing the cameras. After he becomes separated from his owner and fellow co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus), he embarks on a cross-country journey with and street cat named Mittens and a hilarious hamster , Rhino, who spends most of his time in a plastic ball and is t.v. obsessed. Imagine a animated version of Jim Carrey's Truman Show and you have something like Bolt. The film examines how friendship forms through trials and shows that perseverance pays off.
This film is funny but it does not try to overpower you with comedy. I thought of it as more of an action-adventure film for kids. Although, adults might not find it exceptionally deep or captivating like Wall-E or Cars, older viewers will find it enjoyable. Not being a huge Disney or cartoon fan myself these days, Bolt did remind me of some of the classic Disney movies I enjoyed when I was younger such as The Lion King or Aladdin. Even though, Bolt is nowhere near the quality of those movies, it shows Disney is heading in the right direction.

Making Peace with the World, One Dog at a Time.

The Obama family will have a lot of critical decisions to make over the course of the next several years. None may be more important then picking the right dog for their new residence-the White House. That might be a extreme exaggeration, but nonetheless the American public and media is enthralled with the tough choice the Obama's have. They have expressed interest in adopting a shelter dog, a very noble cause. However, Barack's 10-year-old daughter, Malia, has some allergies to dogs. So the process is more complicated then it might seem on the surface. However, Barack should consider adopting a dog that might make our "Country's that Probably Hate America" list a little shorter. In fact, the Obama's new dog could become a tool and symbol for America's new foreign diplomacy. President Bush tried this tactic during his presidency by owning Scotties, unfortunately the U.S. has had no major problems with Scotland.
Over the Bush terms, the U.S. has been very aggressive towards Afghanistan and the terrorists that live there. We have struggled to control country and the influx of people that hold negative feelings towards our own country. However, placating these terrorists might go beyond dismantling our government and leaving them alone. If Obama, wishes to get along with this country he might think about adopting an Afghan Hound. What better way to show Afghanistan respect and friendship then getting a dog named after their country. The Afghan Hound is found in ancient paintings in many of Afghanistan's caves and is considered one of the oldest breeds. It is a very majestic dog and has the nickname "The King of Dogs." This small step, might be the key to helping our relations with this middle-eastern country improve.
"I think it might a good strategy, I don' think any country can hate us if a dog from their country is practically our mascot," said PLNU student Alex Buttweiler.

Here are some more options for the Obama family that will help U.S foreign relations.
-Chinese Shar-Pei: The Chinese don't really hate us, I think. But just to be sure, this dog is great with children and has been around in China ever since the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.)
-Boston Terrier: I know Boston isn't really a country or even close to one. But they seem to be temperamental people.
-Jindo: This breed is relatively unknown outside of Korea. Which means owning this dog will make Kim Jong happier and hopefully less crazy.
-Polish Lowland Sheepdog: This might not be the best choice due to the recent economy because purebred puppies can fetch up to $2,000. But I thought it might be a safe to have at least one European Union member in the mix.