What is Running for Innocence Kids?

Running for Innocence Kids is a branch of Running for Innocence, a charity running team created to raise money for the New England Innocence Project and to raise awareness about the clients of the New England Innocence Project, who have been wrongfully convicted and maintain their innocence. Running for Innocence Kids was started by three sixth graders (now starting seventh grade) from Somerville, Lexington & Concord. In sixth grade, we learned and studied about the civil rights movement with our social studies teacher. After learning about how big of an issue civil and human rights still is today, we wanted to do something to make difference. So we decided that we would work with Running for Innocence and run together and with our friends for one of the biggest civil rights issues today: wrongful convictions based on race.

In May 2016, we ran our first event as part of the Running for Innocence Team, and we raised more than $2,300 for this great cause. We are proud to know that we, as kids can make a difference in the civil/human rights movement today. All of your donations to this fundraiser will support the work of the New England Innocence Project and its Running for Innocence campaign.

This fall, we are pairing up with Running for Innocence team members runners again to run a 5K in Lexington as part of the Genesis Battlegreen Run, and we want to double our impact by raising $5,000 for innocence!

When and where is the race? 

The race is on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 12:15 p.m. in Lexington. You will find more details on the event website, https://battlegreenrunfoundation.org

How do I sign up to run? 

To join the team and run in the 5K, you need to go to this website ( registration is $25 for adults & $20 for students): https://register.chronotrack.com/r/21508

Once you are there, you should:

(1) Register yourself as a runner (select 5K (youth) for students).

(2) When prompted, select “join an existing team” and pick “Running for Innocence.”

(3) Let us know that you have registered by emailing rfi@newenglandinnocence.org.

How do I raise money for the team? 

Once you have registered for the race all you have to do to start fundraising is to send the link below out to all your friends and family with your own small message explaining what Running for Innocence kids is and why it is important.

http://www.crowdrise.com/team-running-for-innocence/fundraiser/kidsrunningforinnocence

Want to help but can’t run on November 6?

Even if you aren’t able to run with us on November 6, there are lots of other ways to get involved. The best way to get connected to other volunteer opportunities is to email the team coordinator, Lisa, at rfi@newenglandinnocence.org. Let her know that you want to help, and she’ll make sure you find a way to get connected!

To read more about the Running for Innocence team, go to: http://www.runningforinnocence.com

To read about the New England Innocence Project, go to http://www.newenglandinnocence.org