Malawi Children's Initiative Takes Annual 5K & Marathon Fundraiser Global - Hosting In-Person & Virtual Races on April 23rd

Event Raises Funds to Provide Nutrition, Education and Healthcare to Malawian Children

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As hybrid work arrangements are becoming increasingly popular as COVID restrictions begin to ease, one non-profit has decided to take the same approach to its annual fundraising event. Malawi Children's Initiative – a charity founded by physicians David and Elizabeth Fitzgerald to help build bridges between their friends and colleagues in the US and at-risk children in Malawi, where the couple has worked for more than a decade – has opened its annual 5K race and marathon fundraiser to interested runners around the globe. The event, held on April 23, 2022, will be available to in-person runners in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as well as any interested runner in any location via a virtual race option.

The 2022 Run for Malawi will feature both an in-person and virtual 5K, marathon, and marathon relay that allow participants anywhere in the world to join in the event and support the nonprofit's program work in Malawi. Runners and teams are encouraged to set goals and gain support from friends, family, and organizations to help raise money for the Malawi Children's Initiative's work.

All 5K or marathon finishers, including virtual participants, will receive a unique wooden race medallion hand-carved by artisans in Malawi, and prizes will be awarded for both the top finishers and top fundraisers (individuals and teams). Registration for the event is available at: www.run4malawi.org.

"Our supporters are always surprised at how much of a difference even small contributions can make toward improving healthcare, nutrition, and education for children in Malawi," said MCI co-founder and Chapel Hill physician Elizabeth Fitzgerald. "Thirty dollars can provide a child with primary education for an entire semester, $100 funds the operations of a pediatric diagnostic lab for a day, and $500 will pay the salary of a Pediatric nurse for a month."

"Our goal this year to raise $100,000 will not only allow us to continue to employ and hire nurses, lab staff, and nutritionists, at Kamuzu Central Hospital but will also enable training of two new pediatricians, increasing the total number of pediatric specialists in all of Malawi, where there are only 43 pediatricians in a country of 19 million people."

Sponsorship and festival vendor opportunities for the race and festival are still available. For more information on sponsorship contact David Fitzgerald: [email protected].

About Malawi Children's Initiative
Malawi Children's Initiative is a 501c3 established in 2017 by physicians Elizabeth and David Fitzgerald to help build bridges between their friends and colleagues at home in the US and those in Malawi, where the couple has worked and sometimes lived since 2011. MCI focuses on improving the lives of Malawian children through investment in healthcare, education, and nutritional initiatives. In the last four years, MCI has built an elementary school building, provided dozens of scholarships for Malawian learners from elementary school through post-graduate training and medical school, built, staffed, and maintained a pediatric clinical lab at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, and contributed thousands of hours of nursing care support to the KCH Pediatric Department. While MCI provides nurses, laboratory staff, clinical officers, and nutritionists at the hospital, there are currently less than 10 local pediatricians in practice in the capital city of Lilongwe. To learn more and see our work, follow MCI on Instagram or Facebook.

Media Contact:
B.J. Talley
[email protected]

SOURCE Malawi Childrens Initiative