Alearga Pentru Viata (LSE, 2009-2013)
Info
- Type Social Campaing, Charity Campaign, Sport Events
- Period 2009 - present
- Location “Lia Manoliu” Olympic Complex, Bucharest, Romania or University Politehnica of Bucharest campus
- Period Anually, in December or May
- My Role Co-Founder, Former Executive Coordinator
- Mission Civil Society Development, Charity
- Participants 300-500 per edition
- Organizer LSE
- Facebook page URL
Description
"Alearga pentru Viata" is a yearly charitable cross, co-founded together with FC Sportul Studentesc and Cristian Gheorghe. It is a project of the Sports Department and at the same time, one of the Major Projects of LSE.
The project has 2 tracks:
1. Awareness campaign (throughout the whole year)
Promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle through our blog (in partnership with Cristian Gheorghe) with articles on healthy food and lifestyle advice. We created also a dedicated section on the website to promote other major sports events where students even participate.
2. The cross (usually in December or May)
It is not just a usual cross, we gather funds from participants and sponsors and donate them all to a charitable cause.
Story of APV
10 years ago I was contacted by Gheorghe Cristian Dragos about a proposal to be partners in organizing a cross.
The initial concept was called “Sport saves lives” – the first social campaign of a club in Romania, and in 2009 it became “Alearga pentru Viata“. 2 years later it became the first charitable cross in the country.
There are many things we haven’t managed to do (yet) but we succeeded in gaining 10 years of experience, hundreds of volunteers, thousands of ran kilometres, tens of thousands of donated euros, no-one-knows-how-many hours of work. But probably most importantly, we succeeded in changing (sometimes even saving) a few lives.
APV is different because all the organizers are volunteers. After a decade in which the number of volunteers is constantly rising, we have reached the 6th generation of organizers (as of May 2019) – the 6th organizing team, completely different from the initial one, but which kept the same model and purpose.
Every time I speak about APV I like talking about the challenges that you face when you organize a charitable cross; with volunteers; teams that constantly change. Maybe the frequent change of the teams makes it look like it’s blocking the progress, but the way I see it it’s a way to keep up with the times, a way to always let the new generations unfold, to be creative, to follow the trends, to use their vision, to grow.
Of course, this isn’t always an advantage when it comes to keeping in contact with some key people across the years or raising funds. Organizing a sports event implies a big effort, involving time and money, and it’s not without risk.
- Location, equipment, participation kit, timekeeping instruments, photo/video operators, marking, food, water, fruit, energizers, trophies, medals, diplomas, prizes, web&social advertising = costs
- Advertising campaigns, partnership meetings, graphics, rules, trails, organizational meetings, web&social content, programme, logistics = time
- the timetable of other events/holidays, the weather = risks
I never liked to talk about the causes of the project, first of all out of respect and discretion towards the problem of the person we are trying to support. We want to help, but with a minimum of exploitation on the emotional side of people when it comes to charitable causes.
APV is not just about supporting someone who needs help; it’s about each and every one of us and of how we can become a better version of ourselves by helping those around us, in our own way.