UW Students at the 2008 Pi Mile RunIt’s a new kind of math they are teaching at the University of Wisconsin! Apparently if you add an enthusiastic engineering student to a 5K run and promise people pie at the end of that race the aggregate sum is $4000 donated to ENLACE’s water project in Las Delicias. That’s math we can get behind!
On April 5th, 255 students hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin in the 2nd annual Pi Mile Run to help raise money and awareness for the ENLACE water project in Las Delicias. Yep, that means a few hundred folks ran to help raise funds for ENLACE and then were promptly thanked at the finish line with a slice of delicious pie. Truly a win-win situation.
Ted Durkee, a mechanical engineering student at UW, volunteered with ENLACE two years ago and helped in the communities of El Tineral and San Martin. The relationships that Ted developed in Las Delicias inspired him to create the Pi Mile Run last year. After organizing a second run Ted explained, “The only organization I considered supporting was ENLACE. Having met and worked with people in the Las Delicias community, it was as easy to be encouraged to raise funds for the water project as helping out a neighbor or good friend."
Creating friendships and forging relationships is a time-consuming process but is the heart and soul of ENLACE. True and lasting change only comes as people listen to God and become connected to their neighbors. It is a great honor to see the impact that such a vision can have locally as well as internationally. As Ted noted in an interview after the event, "ENLACE...provides so many opportunities for people to connect with those in need. You're not just writing a check for some obscure project in another country, you're helping friends.”
The communities of San Martin that will be impacted by this donation express their gratitude to Ted and those at UW. They are also incredibly encouraged by the support of so many friends a world away. That is a gift that will multiply well beyond this year’s run.
To read more about the race, visit the UW website:
See more about Las Delicias and the water project.
Support the water project.
