Boston Marathon Features On wbztv.com
Apr 8, 2009 5:50 pm US/Eastern
Marathoners Run Boston To Stop Hunger
LAWRENCE (WBZ) ―
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Two of the 'Hunger Strikers' training for the marathon.
WBZ
In a city where need is a constant and where the poverty level is triple the state average generous souls ease empty stomachs at Lazarus House.
"People will go out and shop for their families for the week, get a bag for us," said Lazarus House Executive Director Bridget Shaheen.
It all goes into the cramped basement space if the Lawrence food pantry.
"A year and a half ago we were seeing an average of 116 a week. Now we're seeing close to and over 300 families a week," says Shaheen. "What you need to know is these people stand in line on a public street to wait for our food no matter what weather is."
Enter a team that calls itself "the hunger strikers." They are a group of 22 Hopkinton-bound runners who've hit the streets through a tough winter to raise money for
Lazarus House.
"We can go home and take a hot shower and have some oatmeal and some pancakes and life is good. These people are out in the freezing cold and then they have to stand in line for food," says runner and coach Bill Pennington.
With the money raised by the hunger strikers in the last two Boston Marathons, Lazarus House was able to buy a building with room enough that people won't have to stand in line outside.
"To not have to stand out in the rain, to not have to stand out with your children when it's 90 degrees and wait for someone's leftover food or excess food is huge in terms of what it says to someone about who they are, and what they deserve. For us this is a miracle come true," says Shaheen.
The marathon these runners are training for eventually ends. At Lazarus House, the need and the hunger often seem endless. But the staff here can fight a better fight thanks to 22 runners.
Help out the 2009 Hunger Strikers Boston Marathon Team
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