Today’s guest is Sister Stephanie Baliga. I first had her on the podcast last March, and I encourage you to go back and listen to that episode if you haven’t heard it yet. It’s Episode 51. Sister Stephanie was a Division 1 runner in college and our previous episode dives deeper into her running and why and when she decided to dedicate her life to God as a religious sister.

Every year since 2011, Sister Stephanie heads up Team Our Lady of the Angels, a team that fundraises for Mission of Our Lady of the Angels at the Chicago Marathon. This year, I am part of that team and I am so excited about raising money for the Mission and running the Chicago Marathon. If you want to donate, I have a link in the show notes. The donation link is set up by the Mission and all donations via the link go directly to the Mission. Also, all of the money raised is for the Mission—the Chicago Marathon does not take a cut, and the runners on the team do not use any of it for marathon expenses or travel. I paid my race registration fee and I’ll be paying my own travel expenses. 

As Sister Stephanie explains in this episode, since Covid, needs have increased. The Mission now feeds 3,000 families a month—that’s triple the number they were feeding a year ago. So your donations are going to feed families. The Mission is also renovating and expanding facilities so when schools in Chicago open back up, they can re-start their after-school program helping at-risk kids. Your donations will help with that as well.

Last year, when the Chicago Marathon was canceled, Sister Stephanie ran the 26.2 miles on a treadmill in the Mission’s basement. That treadmill run raised about $150,000 for the Mission and ended up bringing the Mission some pretty cool PR. Sister Stephanie tells me all about it in this episode, including Deena Kastor’s involvement and Sports Illustrated picking up the story. 

Show Notes:

Donate to Team Our Lady of the Angels 2021

Episode 51 with Sister Stephanie

Mission of Our Lady of the Angels website

Chicago Tribune article on Sister Stephanie’s treadmill run

ABC Chicago article on Sister Stephanie’s treadmill run

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