All about running and having fun
Posts about things going on at home or related to family and friends.
The Boston One Fund ceased operations in December 2014. It is no longer accepting donations or distributing funds.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.
Boston One Fund ceased operations on December 15th, 2014.
To send a check by mail:
One Fund Boston, Inc.
800 Boylston Street #990009
Boston, MA 02199
Send inquiries to: [email protected]
Today, April 21st, 2013, the Boston Globe published these profiles on Boston.com. Like the lives they describe, these links will not be here forever.
I hope that these stories will provide insights for you into who the victims were and what their lives were about.
Note: The original links are no longer available. I have replace the original links with links to their foundation pages. Each of them has friends and family working to raise money in their memory. I hope you visit their sites, make a contribution or sign up for a race in their honor which will also help raise funds in their honor.
Martin William Richard Foundation, 8
Krystle Campbell , 29
Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund, 26
Live well my friends, Boston Strong!
Andy
This morning we woke to the news that an MBTA police officer has been shot and an MIT Officer has been killed. Boston and surrounding cities are basically locked down.
One suspect has been killed and the second appears to be held up in a building in a residential area of Watertown, MA. I hope they take this punk alive so we can figure out why.
We welcome immigrants to this country and have done so for hundreds of years. Come, build your life, enjoy American liberty and pursue your happiness. If you decide you don’t like us than get the F out of here. WE love America, thank you very much.
It appears that we welcomed these kids from a war zone and gave them a safe haven, an education and all of the opportunities to succeed here. If they did not like it here, why not just get a one way ticket back to Chechnya?
Be safe my friends.
Andy
A message from Marathon Sports:
This took too long to write, and in part it’s because there really are no words to describe how we all feel right now.
On this surreal Tuesday, in the immediate wake of this incredible, tragic, senseless act of violence that took place quite literally at our doorstep, we are deeply saddened for the loss of life and the injuries sustained by the multitude of victims. We send our prayers, thoughts, and positive energy to all who have been affected by this act.
As a company at the epicenter of the running community in Boston, we feel it is our duty to respond. We will not respond with any commentary on those responsible for the attack; that would merely validate their actions. We will focus instead on the incredible sense of solidarity, of unity, and of love within the running community and Boston at large.
We are incredibly grateful that the members of our staff on site at the time of the attack are, miraculously, safe, and we are proud of the individual decisions our staff made in the face of inconceivable circumstances. And the outpouring of prayers, offers of help, and love from all corners of the running world is heartfelt and appreciated.
The decision to help one another through tragedy can be instinctive, and those very instincts are native to the running community, and part of what makes it such a special group of people in the first place. While running is very much an individual sport in many respects, we all strive to celebrate and triumph together, united by a common pursuit. Whether celebrating a first 5k, a PR, or a lifelong pursuit of crossing the finish line on Boylston Street, we all train, race, and celebrate together.
And because of this, we will persevere. As Bostonians – which we ALL are on Marathon Monday, native or not – we are strong, stubborn New Englanders to the core. As runners – we are unified through love for one another, love for our sport, love for the thrill of crossing finish lines, and for (sometimes) beating the clock.
Yesterday’s events will cause us to cherish those triumphs all the more, in honor of those who no longer can. Know this: Boston will not stop running. We will run again, and we owe it to those who can’t.
#PrayForBoston and donate to the Red Cross
Marathon Sports
FIND MISSING PEOPLE
Mayor’s Hotline – Call (617) 635-4500
Google Person Finder – http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions/
American Red Cross “Safe And Well” – http://www.redcross.org/find-help/contact-family/register-safe-listing
TIPS
If you have any information about this attack, please use the TIPS hotline – 1-800-494-TIPS
DONATE
And we are imploring all those who have the means to donate to the American Red Cross. Give money, or wait a week and give blood, it all helps.
I want to thank everyone who reached out through the various media to check on me yesterday. I was deeply touched by your concern.
I am okay, and on vacation in Florida. This blog post should go to LinkedIn and Facebook also.
I still have not heard from all of the runners that I know personally but I am hopeful for the best. Please keep the victims and their families in your hearts and prayers these next few days. The news reports sound horrific. Innocent spectators watching a marathon, their lives changed forever. Why?
We will be back in Boston in a few days. I look forward to seeing you. For those of you further away, thank you for thinking of me. I know how I felt when I did not know the fate of my many friends who ran yesterday.
Be well my friends,
Andy
This Sunday is Veterans Day here in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada and other Commonwealth countries.
When I was a little boy we used to call November 11th Armistice Day. This was the day that World War I ended: The 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month. The end to what must have seemed an endless war.
My mother and grandmother used to tell me the story of my grandfather who was in France on that day. He was an engineer with the Army’s Yankee Division. Shortly before the Armistice went into effect his unit was traveling down a road. At some point a German soldier approached them and told them not to proceed down the road because it was mined.
That German soldier could have easily been shot as he approached the American unit, and he probably knew this. Yet he risked his life even though he probably knew that the war was almost over and he just needed to survive a few more days or hours and then he could go home.
If not for this soldier’s act of bravery my grandfather may not have returned home from France, or he may have returned as a different man. This nameless German likely made it possible for me to be here today. The other men in my grandfather’s unit that day also got to come home from Over Seas and live their lives. It kinda blows my mind to think how a single act of bravery, a twist of fate, made my life and so many other lives possible.
When I was a boy we used to see old men in front of the grocery stores selling Remembrance Poppies. They had red pedals and the center looked to be made from poppy seeds that had been glued together. My grandmother told me that the old veterans in the veteran’s hospitals used to make them. They were unable to work or go home due to their injuries, but many were able to make these flowers. I’m not sure how true that story was, but it is what my grandmother used to tell me.
The WWI and WWII guys are mostly gone now. The Korean Vets are now in their 80’s, and the Vietnam Vets are in their 60’s or older now. I do not see the Vets in front of the stores like I used to. Maybe I just shop at the wrong times, but I also do not see the red poppies like I used to.
This past week I was in Toronto. I saw Remembrance Poppies everywhere. It seemed like almost everyone had one pinned to their coat. I was amazed. In the lobby of my hotel they had a box of poppies and a donation box. For one Looney anyone could get a poppy. I dropped my Looney into the box and took a poppy.
If you see a Veteran in front of a store selling Remembrance Poppies this weekend, please stop and say thank you. Make a small donation and show that you remember.
In Flanders Fields, by Lt. Col John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.