LINCOLN, Neb. – An athlete in Lincoln is running hundreds of miles in dozens of states for a cause.
“I was a little slow going at first,” said Susan Sheridan, director of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools. “I will say I wasn’t really sure if this whole thing was going to take off, although I’m not one to quit.”
After a trip to Haiti in 2011, Sheridan helped form the Elevating Haitian Education effort.
“I knew right away that I could do more,” said Sheridan.
Sheridan found a way to help through her “50 State for 50 Kids” mission. She plans on running a half-marathon or full marathon in all fifty states to raise funds for 50 Haitian students.
“We want them to give back to their community,” Sheridan said. “We want them to really be the next leaders of that region in the country.”
She has already accomplished races in 34 states. She says her experiences in Haiti help keep her going.
“I’ll see children walking to school at six o’clock in the morning and it’ll take them an hour to get to where they are going,” Sheridan said. “I think of that when I’m running. I think of those kids. If they can do that every single day.”
With the pandemic taking away some of her 2020 races, she says she might need help in the future. She has two kids that are more than willing.
“I told them if anything happens to me and I haven’t finished all 50 states will you finish for me, and they both said resounding ‘yes’ they will do that for me,” Sheridan said.
For more on how to support Elevating Haitian Education click HERE.
