A Little about Paul

Paul & Casey with Paul's Bro-in-law, sister, mom and niece.

My name is Paul Rejda. Having been born in Texas I consider myself a Texan but since I have lived in Oklahoma for almost half my life I would have to say that I’m also part Sooner. Soon after graduating from Owasso High School I realized that I have a passion for helping people who are less fortunate. I have spent many hours contemplating why I was so fortunate to be born where I was, while billions of people around the world are born into extreme poverty with no hope of change. This is why after graduating college I volunteered to work for the U.S. Peace Corp as a Business Education and Community Development Specialist in the Republic of Armenia where I was able to experience firsthand what it’s like to live in the Third World.

In 2008 my wife Casey and I were married. Casey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and I have a small house painting and remodeling business. Life has been good to us, but for a few years we have felt like we need to be doing more to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. We have always given faithfully to many different charities but have felt the need to be involved on a deeper level. When Jono started talking about how his dad and brother had helped found an orphanage in Uganda I soon realized that Project Hope Worldwide was an organization we could be enthusiastic about.

Every day I pray that I will have an ever increasing compassion for these kids we are helping support. If you and I don't do it, who will? There are numerous charities everywhere you look but my hope is when you look at Project Hope Worldwide, the non-profit Run To Uganda is raising funds for, you will be as touched by the tremendous need in Uganda as my wife and I have been. And when you give your time and money to these beautiful children I promise you will feel as blessed as we do.

Gotta Eat!

Friends-

I got a great reminder today about the importance of eating and running.  I felt pretty strong today going into my final long run before Route 66, but after getting my butt kicked pretty bad on a 16 miler a few weeks ago ( which I directly contribute to running out of good calories the last few miles),  I remembered I need to eat better. I ate a lot of potatoes, rice, pizza, granola, and bagels the last couple of days. A baggy of rice, a banana, and a few packs of energy beans were about perfect during the run. The only improvement I could have made would have been a QT apple fritter.  They are my favorite food when I run, and make me run much faster!  It was the easiest 20 miles I have ever done.  We Finished with a couple of fast miles, and still had enough energy to come home and skate with Kade Rocket. 

Maybe the Olympic team doesn't train with apple fritters, but why make it complicated.  Just find what works for you, and remember to eat.

Stay tuned for advice on the "Apple Fritter" and it's many attributes.

We need some help passing out flyers and cards at Route 66.  Will you help us? 
Message us on FB Run To Uganda.
or runtouganda.gmail.com


Peace,

Jono 

Route 66 Marathon

Friends

We are in the final month of preparation for the official Kick-off for the "Run to Uganda", at the Route 66 marathon, on November 18.  It is awesome to feel the momentum building.  Paul and I spend a majority of our long training runs brainstorming ideas to reach the goal of $50,000.  The thing we continue to come back to is the importance of a strong network of friends helping us promote the cause.  If you are interested in coming out to hand out cards and support the Run to Uganda, please contact us via email or Facebook message.

runtouganda@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/RunToUganda?ref=hl

Jono

 

Bio

Most of you know me, but for those who don’t: 

Hi my name is Jono Becker.  My wife Christy and I have three children Marlee July 11, Mia Sunshine 6, and Kade Rocket 2. I work for QuikTrip, attend Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and my passions are people,  running with all the new adventures life brings, and making this world a better place.

          In 2008, my father Lynn Becker, my brother Justin Becker and several others including Derk Madden and Kelley Compton made an evangelism trip to Uganda.   They saw the devastation that AIDS and the LRA had left on the people of Uganda especially the children.  After hearing these stories and seeing the pictures, one thought continued to haunt me.  What if Marlee, at that time 7, and Mia 2 where left on the streets to take care of themselves?  Who would have enough compassion to care for them?   Lynn, Justin, Dirk, and Kelley had already started the process to make a difference for these Ugandan children by creating Project Hope Worldwide and an orphanage Calo Me Lare.  Our family decided to get involved and sponsor a young 5 year old girl named Mercy.  

          As my passion to help these children in Uganda has grown, it has evolved into the need to make a positive impact on the world.  So over the next year not only will we be raising money to build a school for the children of Calo Me Lare, but we will be exploring ways to make a difference in ourselves and our world. 

          The Run to Uganda blog will be tracking the progress of the orphans and our fundraising efforts, but also will explore ways to:

(1)  Make a difference in people’s lives through generosity and caring

(2)  Make an impact on our own health through diet and exercise

(3)  Minimize our impact on the environment through recycling and minimalism

(4)  Enjoy life more through love and laughter

So if you are looking for a positive change in your life while making a positive change in your world, follow us on our journey to do same.

A Little About What We are Doing

"Run to Uganda" was the brainchild of Paul Rejda and Jono Becker. The main goal of the Run is to raise funds to build a school for Calo Me Lare, an orphanage built by Project Hope Worldwide (PHW), in Lira, Uganda. This blog was created to track the progress of our little adventure that we have been kicking around for the past year.

As philanthropic as building a school may sound, the original goal was just to run 125 miles along Route 66 from Tulsa to Oklahoma City "for the fun of it." But as discussions became more detailed, it became evident this would be a great way to raise money for PHW, which both of our families have supported for a couple of years.

From there, it took off at a dead sprint! Jono wanted to set a huge goal. When he mentioned wanting to raise some $50,000, Paul was a shocked but immediately jumped at the challenge. To accomplish our monetary objective, we have recruited a few people to help with some of the fundraising logistics. (Each of whom will be gratefully recognized by the time we officially kick off our fundraiser.) We are also recruiting a running team of all skill levels to help promote the fundraiser. 

To get the fundraiser started, we plan to use Tulsa's Route 66 Marathon as a training run and a good place to spread the word to other like-minded runners. From there, the plan is to log our weekly running miles and the miles of the recruited team runners. The goal is to reach 8,225 miles - the distance from Tulsa to Lira, Uganda before we run from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.

With God’s help and a wonderful team of volunteers, we will reach the $50,000 goal by the end of 2013 (assuming Earth still exists after Dec. 21, 2012 -:) ) and Calo Me Lare will be able to build another school to educate their growing number of parent-less children.

Please visit ProjectHopeWorldwide.org to see all the great things being done and consider how you can help the "Run To Uganda" meet our goal. Our page link is here. Please "like" our Facebook page and subscribe to keep up with what we are doing here.