Toby Tanser epitomizes that polyglot of attributes. In 1995, he was an Icelandic vegetarian runner living in New York and Africa and sure of two things: Africa was being torn apart, and running brought people together. In Kenya one day on the way to the airport he gave a pair of shoes to someone who needed them more than he did – and Shoe4Africa was born. Since then, thousands of pairs of simple running shoes – often used – have been given away, and there have been dozens and dozens of races for peace and unity.
Tanser runs Shoe4Africa with a small staff of volunteers and a lot of help from his best friend, actor Anthony Edwards (“ER”, “Top Gun”). We crossed paths with the two pals at BlogWorld when they stopped by the WhatGives!? booth to talk about Shoe4Africa’s most ambitious project yet – building the very first public children’s hospital in Kenya.
The November 1, 2009, New York City Marathon will mark the first time they’ve ever asked for anything besides shoes. They’ll be running for better health care for the children of Africa and to raise money. Just $10 each from 500,000 people will get that hospital built. We’d be honored if you’d pass this around and help Toby and Anthony make it happen.
Related Posts
Tags: charity, children, hospital, New York City Marathon, Shoe4Africa
Thanks, Shelly. They’re really determined. I have no doubt we’ll soon be seeing these guys with shovels, breaking ground on that hospital!