March Newsletter 2013

Race for a Cause

Team Together in Hope

In this Issue:

The Woodlands

Marathon

Meet our Atheletes

Where your $$$ are

going

Connect with us:

Follow us on Twitter

Join us on Face book

Join us on Google+

Read our Blog

Copyright © *|2013|* *|Together in Hope|*, All

rights reserved. Our mailing address is:

Together in Hope 1250 Wood Branch Park Drive, Suite 625,

Houston, TX 77079 832-758-2971

laurapower@togetherinhope.org

www.togetherinhope.org

We are busy putting our medical mission to El Salvador together. We are still

looking for a dentist to come and participate on this trip. The dates are July

13th-20th. If you know of a dentist that would be interested please email

laurapower@togetherinhope.org or call Laura at 832-758-2971

As always thank you for your ongoing support and for helping us achieve so

much. Our work would not be possible without your support. Thank you to all

our athletes who ran and walked in the Woodlands Marathon events. We are

so grateful to you all. We would also like to give a special thank you to

Gabrielle Baumeyer from Reason2Race for all her support and

encouragement over the past number of months. The success of this event

would not have been possible without her. Thank you so much Gabrille!

Friends,

We wish you a Happy Easter and hope that you

are enjoying it with friends and family. In El

Salvador Easter is celebrated a little different from

how some

Thank you to everyone who came out to our After the Race Pupsa Party,

and to all the ladies who spent all afternoon making delicious Pupusas.

Thank you so much for all the support.

March has been busy for Together in Hope, on

March 2nd we had a group of 9 runners and 4

walkers take part in the Woodlands Marathon

event. For the last number of months, Team

Together in Hope has been working hard to raise

funds for our program in El Salvador and they all

trained exceptionally hard to get in shape before

the big day. For some of our runners it was their

first time running in an athletic event. We are so

proud of them and so grateful for all their hard

work.

how some of us celebrate it here in the United States. In El Salvador, the

week of Easter is “Holy Week,” and the festivities revolve around Roman

Catholic tradition. Since the time of colonization, Roman Catholic

traditions have been the most common and most practiced in the country.

Semana Santa is one of the most important weeks in El Salvador.

Steve Smith

Trisha and Randy Pollard

Shirley Lloyd Kathleen Knolle Mary Goodman Sandra Weaver Harriet Riggs George Fordes Debbie Moser

Ralph Cox Michael Atkins

Gigi White Horacio Sosa

Richard Covington Maria Zuniga Heidi Pinyerd Ann Spears

Marilu Alejandre Luz Flores

Keoni Josiah Gary Reinsch Phyllis Davis Doug Turley

Nancy Hinshaw Alison Bales Cynthia Orbe

Philip DelRosario Marissa Pi

Joseph Whitaker Jr Shirley Broome Paula Arnold

Hartley Hampton Sonya Thomasson

William Ehrenstrom Alan Vanhooser

Claire Thomasson Marlene Nondorf Gregorio Mariano

Grant Harvey Beth Jones

James Flagg Wendelyn Turley

Karen Juul-nielsen David Luther

Thank you to all our donors

who supported our athletes

in the Woodlands Marathon

event

The Woodlands Marathon

Over the last four months, Together in Hope worked to bulid a team for the

Woodlands Marathon. Our goal was to have ten runners who would each raise at

least $1,000 for our “Breaking the cycle of Poverty in The Alta Mira Flores

community, El Salvador” program.

On March 2nd 2013, 9 runners took their mark and ran in

the various events at the Woodlands Marathon, along with 4

walkers that walked in the 2k. Our athletes worked

extremely hard both to train and to raise funds. We were

over the moon when we got our most recent donation

report that announced that they had raised an amazing

$20,980 with more donations coming in.

Meet Our Athletes

Diane McGehee- Diane is the Founder and Director of Together in

Hope. Diane wanted to run her first ever full marathon to raise

funds for the Alta Mira Flores community in El Salvador and she did

it! Diane finished the marathon in 5:15:55 and raised an amazing

$14,035 putting her in first place in the Reason2Race Launch

Charity Challenge, winning an extra $3,000 for Together in Hope.

Paige Martin: Rev Paige Martin has spent time working in El Salvador, she knows the

need for a facility like the one for which we are raising funds. This was Paiges first run

after a serious Knee injury and she aced it!

Ruth Gonda: Ruth is a registered nurse and is coming to El Salvador to volunteer on

the TIH medical mission in July. Ruth wanted to Run for a Cause for her first 5k!

Dr John Riggs- John is a friend of Diane’s who

heard about our effort to put a team together

to run in the Woodlands Marathon. He

immediately signed up to run with Team

Together in Hope and ran his first ever full

marathon!

Janet Deleon: Janet is from El Salvador, she got in touch with

TIH back in December to see how she could get involved. When

she heard about the race she signed up straight away.

Marsha Renfroe: Marsha is Diane’s niece. After hearing her

aunt talk about El Salvador, Marsha wanted to help out however

she could. She decided to run her first 5k for El Salvador.

Hilary Killian: Hilary ran in the half marathon for Team Together in Hope. Hilary

heard about our cause through our volunteers going to El Salvador in July, and joined

our team.

Natalie and Bill Lamont: Natalie and Bill raised funds and ran.

Thank you to you all and thank you to everyone who supported our athletes, we

couldn’t have done it without your support.

Team Together in Hope

Together in Hope invites you to become part of Team Together in Hope. We will

annually be running in the Woodlands Marathon each March. Let us know if you

want to join Team Together in Hope 2014!We will also be running a series of races

over the next 12months to raise vital funds for our program in El Salvador and we

invite you to join us. We have joined forces with Reason2Race to help you with all

your fundraising needs. You can help us ensure that the Alta Mira Flores community

gets their new community center, medical clinic and school; all you have to do is

choose Together in Hope as your reason to race. See more details here:

http://togetherinhope.org/support-us/team-together-in-hope

Where your $$$’s are going

On behalf of all Team Together in Hope thank you so much for your support of the

athletes who ran and walked in the Woodlands Marathon, March 2, 2013. Thanks to

you, we raised an amazing $20,960 and funds are still coming in. Our goal is to build

a community center that will include a larger school for more children, a medical and

dental clinic, and job training. We have found land within the community that is

ideally located for this center. Half will be used to buy the land for the community

center and half will support our full-time Salvadoran community social worker,

Edwin Reyes, who grew up in the community and is committed to helping the

members of this community move out of poverty into a more hopeful future. Thanks

to you and your generous support, we are one step closer to make this dream a

reality. Watch our video to see our work in El Salvador, and the difference your

donation is making:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6vaBwRSWs8&feature=player_embedded

Hear what our athletes have to say

‘One of my dreams has always been to find a way to help my country El Salvador, as I

have seen firsthand the challenges many families face due to poverty and lack of

resources. Running for Together in Hope gives me the opportunity to begin this

journey of impacting the lives of my fellow Salvadorans. It fills me with so much joy

to be able to do this, and I look forward to continue supporting TIH’s amazing

mission’- Janet Deleon

‘My Aunt has always been someone in my life that I could count on. Even when we

haven't been close in proximity I've always known when I've needed someone she

would be there. When she asked me to help her with a cause I was more than happy

to return the favor for all of the times that she has helped me! Running this 5k (my

FIRST 5k, by the way) is just one small way that I can return a favor to someone who

has done so much for me. However this cause is one that is much bigger than the

story of me and my aunt. This cause is about helping people who may not have the

resources to help themselves. Here in the United States it is generally pretty easy to

get what we need, especially when it comes to our basic needs. Now it's my turn, and

your turn, to do what we can to take a small amount from what we have and make a

huge difference in someone else's life.’-Marsha Renfroe

Daniel Velasquez Felinda Villa

Rev Gail Smith Nida Gonda

Peter Barbara Michael Renfroe Darlene Plumly

Mireya Ottaviano Tiffany Hammond

Meade Bernard GENE FEIGELSON

Elaine Lawson Carole Sholar

Bob Liston Robert Riggs

Hannah Hendley Rebecca Paige Martin

Keith Luis Riggs Pauline Y. Cournyer

Jose Vega anita calderon Paul Messenger

Catherinae Stewart Kimberly Orr

Ken and Lesley Huebsch Diana Holbert Jenny Liston

Thomas Smith Doris Deleon

Dante de los Reyes Caroline Turley Roland Oberlin

From the bottom of our

hearts Thank you so

much <3

Copyright © *|2013|* *|Together in Hope|*, All rights

reserved. Our mailing address is:

Together in Hope 1250 Wood Branch Park Drive, Suite 625,

Houston, TX 77079 832-758-2971

laurapower@togetherinhope.org

www.togetherinhope.org