Team BARKA NYC Marathon

November 7th, 2010

NYC Marathon Recap
Wow! What an inspiring and exhilarating day, a day that reaffirmed love for life and reason for joy in the world.
Team BARKA finished the marathon in style:
Monique Laurion finished in just 3 hours 55 minutes;
Robert Bouchard et Marcelle Boulanger crossed the finish line in tandem at 4 hours 8 minutes.  Formidable! (That word sounds so much better in French than it does in English).
What a blast it was– almost like a marathon in itself chasing Team BARKA all over the Big Apple.
The international, multi-generational group of Team BARKA cheerleaders caught our marathon runners 3 times during the day!
What excitement it was to connect with them while they ran!!
On the subject of raising money for clean water in Burkina, Team BARKA continued to fly high. They shattered their fundraising goal of $15K by raising over $22,000, 97% from a newly formed community of very generous Canadians from Quebec.  As Ina says, “our hearts are overflowing” with tears of gratitude. We look forward to beginning a long-term collaboration with this new family of supporters and do some phenomenal work together locally in Quebec and internationally in the bush of Burkina Faso.
Our journey has begun and Robert, Marcelle & Monique have started us off right!
Our sincerest appreciation is also extended to All For Africa, BARKA’s new NGO partner organization which made the slots in the marathon and the Team BARKA website available. Visit their website and check out the ways All For Africa is supporting organizations like BARKA which focus on sustainable development in Africa.
And it’s not too late to donate- if you’d like to add to Team BARKA’s impressive total, click here to make a secure online donation.
PHOTOS COMING SOON!