Each year the Few for Change board meets for its annual retreat to recap the past year, plan the year ahead, and do some strategic thinking about the future of the organization. While we always have a lot of important business to discuss, we always try to have some fun as well. This usually involves listening to our favorite Panamanian music, cooking delicious Panamanian food, and catching up on the latest news from the Comarca.

At this year's retreat, we’re trying something different. We are going to take some time to walk in our students’ shoes, figuratively speaking. On Sunday, August 9, our board members will be participating in a 5 kilometer walk/run to raise funds for our newest class of scholarship recipients, with each of us running for a different student. This distance is, of course, a standard length for a road race, but it is also significant because many of our students have to walk at least that far to and from school each day.

Whether they board at a school 60 miles from their hometown, have a long chiva (passenger pickup truck) ride through the mountains, or walk three miles each way to class, most of our students have endured a transportation-related hardship at some point in their school career. This is something most of us have a hard time grasping. So, in honor of our courageous, determined students, seven Few for Change board members will be running to raise scholarship funds for our students.

Of course, we can’t help engaging in a little friendly competition along the way. Each of us will be competing to see who can raise the most money for a given student in Few for Change's most recent class of scholars. And that's where you come in. Every dollar we raise gets us closer to funding another year of education for a student in need and we would love to have your support.

Here's how you can help:

Visit our scholars page (www.fewforchange.org/scholars) and pick a student from the top seven on the list: Xiomara, Roger, Cristian, Bernardo, Victor, Bartolome, or Edwin.
Make a donation to support your chosen student. Any amount helps!
Join our Facebook event and like Few for Change (if you haven't already) for updates on the race and our students. And if you're not on Facebook, skip this step, and proceed directly to the next one!
Share the event or this message with your friends and ask them to participate!

We hope you'll join us for the Run for Change!