From May 1-31, 2023, insights professionals across the industry are coming together to promote education for vulnerable children. The Race Around the World for Education, an initiative of the Marketing Research Education Foundation (MREF), is a virtual, worldwide race aiming to rally researchers in biking, walking, and running to raise money to advance educational opportunities for children around the world. In 2023, the MREF aims to raise $120,000 to support the missions of four organizations championing children’s well-being and education.
Hogar Montiel Girls Association
The Hogar Montiel Program serves girls between the ages of 5 and 12 in Costa Rica who have high social risk, facing problems such as neglect, abandonment, and abuse. The program supports the girls academically according to learning styles and individual needs, while also supporting their emotional well-being and development.
Through grant funding from the Race Around the World for Education, the Hogar Montiel Program will be able to meet the educational needs of the girls it serves, providing school supplies and tutoring classes in math, technology, or English.
Marty’s Orchid House
Marty’s Orchid House is a specialized day program for preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and overlapping health conditions, allowing low-income parents to maintain employment and give enrolled children access to an array of services all under one roof. They are committed to advocating for high-risk children to increase the possibilities of a brighter future.
The use of gross motor equipment is essential for providing holistic and meaningful therapy services. Funding from the race will allow Marty’s Orchid House to purchase equipment to help strengthen its occupational therapy program and provide the necessary screening tools to establish a speech therapy program.
Orphan’s Aid Society
Orphans’ Aid Society (OAS) provides monetary aid to children in foster arrangements in Ukraine. With children in their network displaced regionally in Ukraine and across Europe, OAS's work to establish connection and provide support has become even more critical. Grant aid will enable OAS to continue this work under the current difficult circumstances and in the future as orphans and their caretakers rebuild their lives.
A previous beneficiary of the Race Around the World for Education, OAS has continued to serve its orphans and families through small grants that enable access to educational supplies.
“We bought notebooks, coloring books, colored pencils, and paint,” writes one child in OAS’s network, a young boy living with his sister and widowed mother. “My mother also bought me clothes and sneakers. Thank you for helping us.”
Another child, a first grader who lost her father to the current conflict in Ukraine, writes, “Good day. I am in first grade. We purchased notebooks, pencils, reading books, gym clothes, and shoes. Thank you.”
Start Lighthouse
Founded in March 2020, Start Lighthouse services 5,200 students across eight Title I schools within the Bronx, one of the poorest congressional districts in the entire country, with 70-85% of students reading below grade level. The biggest barrier to literacy in the Bronx is access to books – a barrier that Start Lighthouse has worked to overcome since its founding in 2020, distributing more than 21,015 brand-new multicultural books, with a value of more than $400,385.
Start Lighthouse connects children to books through Literary Adventures – immersive experiences led by BIPOC authors and illustrators, hosted onsite at NYC public schools, designed to revitalize a love for reading. Students curate their own library from new, free, and engaging multicultural books. With funding from the Race Around the World for Education, Start Lighthouse will expand its programming and opportunities to hundreds of new students.
Join the Race Around the World for Education
Join the MREF in supporting these four organizations doing critical work to advance educational opportunities for children. By joining the race, you’ll help raise awareness for these organizations and the ways in which they’re advocating for children’s education. By donating, you’ll help them continue their work and increase access to their services to aid even more children. To learn more about how to get involved, visit www.mrgivesback.org/race.
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