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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Marathon Runners Raise $1 Million For African Village

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Monday, October 21, 2013   

DETROIT - Running a marathon is tough enough, but for many hundreds of metro Detroit area runners, Sunday's Detroit Free Press Marathon was a symbolic gesture as part of their mission to bring hope to a remote part of Kenya. Water stops were abundant during Sunday's marathon, but that's not the way it is for the Pokot people of western Kenya, where two out of every five children die because they don't have access to clean water. That's what prompted a group from Kensington Church to tackle the marathon as a fundraiser to build wells for the Pokot, with the goal of raising $1 million.

According to Team Kensington organizer Bill Clark, in the Great Lakes state it is easy to take water for granted, but the Pokot have very few choices.

"Option one: drink the dirty water and die slowly, or option two: don't drink water and die," he said. "So our goal is, let's give them a third option where they can have clean water."

Kensington is a non-denominational Christian church with campuses in Troy, Lake Orion, Birmingham and Clinton Township. With 1400 runners, Team Kensington was the largest group ever to enter the Detroit Free Press Marathon.

Clark said it's not the size of the group that's impressive, but the power of their collective efforts to change lives on the other side of the world.

"It costs $21,000 per well, and one well can bring clean water to about a thousand people," he said. "So if we hit the million mark, it's about 50,000 people that we can get clean water to."

The Team Kensington runners trained together for several months leading up to the marathon, with group runs at local parks each weekend. Clark remarked that, not only is the project changing lives across the world, but it has also had a profound impact on the group members in southeastern Michigan.

"People are dealing with addiction. People are dealing with family issues, with spiritual issues, with physical issues. They're trying to lose weight," he said. "So all these stories within our group are also occurring, and this camaraderie that is forming is absolutely amazing."

Clark said the majority of the team members had never run a marathon before, but now the team already is planning for the 2014 Detroit Free Press Marathon.

More information is at HopeWaterProject.org.




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