Shapiro + Raj sponsored the Race Around the World for Education with a $5,000 gift to help provide essential aid to vulnerable Ukrainian children.
Saint Paul, MN – (July 28, 2022) – This May, more than 1,300 researchers joined together with colleagues, friends and family to run, bike and walk the MREF’s 2nd annual Race Around the World for Education – a virtual, global race to raise funds for kids in need – and raised an astounding $134,298 to aid children displaced by the war in Ukraine.
As a Victor sponsor, Shapiro + Raj committed a donation of $5,000 to this cause. But commitment, says the company’s chairman and CEO Zain Raj, is just one of Shapiro + Raj’s core values.
“It’s commitment to each other, to our clients and to our community,” says Raj. “Our commitment to community means giving back, providing support and trying to make an impact to help those in need.”
Through the dedication of sponsors and donors, the MREF has been able to offer initial grants of $50,000 each to two organizations, Nashi and Orphan’s Aid Society (OAS), which provide essential aid to orphaned Ukrainian kids.
“Food, education and shelter are just a few concerns,” says Raj. “They are displaced and living in a new country. They need compassion, they need comfort, they need community – they need us.”
The crisis in Ukraine is unprecedented for our lifetime and has uprooted millions from their homes and daily life. The grants will support Nashi and OAS in covering children’s basic needs like food and clothing, and will also assist in continuing education in a time when a path to normalcy is still unclear.
“Any act of kindness, any help we can provide – no matter how big or small – has the potential to make life a little less hard, a little less stressful and filled with a lot more hope.”