Team Hope Story - 2023 TCS New York City Marathon

Hi friends and family!

I am running the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon on November 5th. I have been training since May and I cannot believe how soon it will be here! Training for my first ever marathon has been both exciting and challenging! It’s been exciting to see that mileage creep up to never before seen numbers, and challenging in all of the ways you can imagine - namely training in the hot hot hot all Texas summer long! But the thing that has kept me going through it all is remembering my WHY! Why am I running this race? I am running this marathon to raise support and awareness for Hope Story, and I would love for you to partner with me!

What is Hope Story?

Hope Story is a non-profit organization that provides no-cost resources to 1) parents who learn that their child is going to be born with Down syndrome and 2) to medical providers who deliver that diagnosis. Some of the resources Hope Story provides are nation-wide peer support, a full-color booklet for new parents, and educational opportunities for medical professionals. Hope Story also travels to various conferences to increase awareness of these resources to medical professionals and parents of children with Down syndrome.

My WHY made personal

A few weekends ago I was slated to run my longest run up to that point  - 18 miles. My running buddy was out of town, so I was feeling nervous about running for such a long time solo! But when you’re training for a marathon, you just keep going! So I set my alarm for 5am and headed out on the trail to face my figurative mountain of 18 miles. Less than a mile in to my run, I met a girl on the trail and she asked me if I was training for anything. I told her the NYC marathon, and quickly followed it up with “for a non-profit organization” (so she wouldn’t think I’m fast enough to have qualified, because, well, I’m not ha) and I asked her if she had heard of Hope Story. “Oh my goodness! Abbie Smith [co-founder of Hope Story] is my pediatrician!” she exclaimed incredulously, and followed with “...and my daughter has Down syndrome.” No...stinking...way...! What in the world are the odds? This was clearly God-ordained! Alycia and I spent the next 6 miles talking about life and family and her daughter and what it was like to learn when she was pregnant that her daughter would be born with Down syndrome. Alycia told me that she was asked multiple times by her doctor if she would like to terminate the pregnancy, despite saying every time “that is not even an option.” She was emotionally drained and felt like she was being made to feel guilty for keeping her baby! She and her husband didn’t have any close connections with anyone raising a child with Down syndrome and their access to support resources were very limited. God brought Alycia and I together on that run not only to give me the extra push to complete my 18 mile run, but even more so to remind me WHY I am running this race! I am running for people like my new friend! So that when they receive the news that their child has Down syndrome they aren’t just met with statistics and reasons why they should terminate their pregnancy, but rather encouragement and hope and connections to other families who are thankful to be raising a child with Down syndrome!

How can YOU help?

I am asking for your support to partner with Hope Story through a monetary donation. 100% of donations received are tax-deductible and will go directly to Hope Story. I have a goal of raising $5,000, but with your help, I would love to raise even more! Every donation, no matter how big or small, will make a difference in the lives of families facing extraordinary challenges.

Where does the money go?

In order to raise awareness of Hope Story and to provide no-cost materials to parents and medical providers, Hope Story relies on fundraising efforts and donations. Here are some of the things Hope Story is able to do with these donations:

• $5 - Prints 10 “How to Deliver a Down Syndrome Diagnosis with Hope” Booklets

• $10 - Prints 8 Hope Stories Booklets which answers questions in story form that new parents may have. These books are distributed nationwide to new parents and physicians

• $25 - Provides one Hope Kit to an existing parent of a child with Down Syndrome so they can “adopt” their medical professional and provide peer support to new local parents.

• $50 - Produces material for twenty medical professional folders which provide resources to help medical professionals deliver a Down Syndrome diagnosis to new parents.

• $75 - Provides and ships one box (thirty books) of Hope Stories Booklets to a medical office to give to families with a new diagnosis

• $100 - Helps create five podcasts that can encourage parents with a child with Down Syndrome

• $250 - Helps maintain, host and update the website so that Hope Story can continue to reach new families

• $500 - Funds a table for medical professional dinners. These dinners allow medical professionals to hear first hand from families raising a child with Down Syndrome and experienced medical providers who have cared for families of children with Down Syndrome for over a decade.

• $1000 - helps create new video content for new parents and medical professionals

Playlist and PRAYlist

Hearing that you are going to partner with me in support of Hope Story would be music to my ears, so I would love for you to help me pick the music to put IN my ears for the marathon! For every donation of $50 I will add the song of your choice to my marathon day playlist! $100, you can pick 2 songs, $200, 4 songs, etc. Hearing your song as I’m running will be a reminder of you on marathon day, and as I’m thinking about you, I would love to PRAY for you! Because how better to spend my hours of running? I will be in touch soon to find out your songs for my playlist and prayer requests for my PRAYlist!

Thank you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my fundraising page and read this.  I am so grateful for you! And I hope that you feel led to support Hope Story by joining my NYC marathon team and making a donation today! If you’d like to learn more about Hope Story, you can check them out on their website at Hopestory.org. And if you’re into social media, you can also follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

Love to you,

Marni