Just over a year ago, on December 22, 2012, I participated in the first “26.4.26” run in Nashville for the victims of the Newtown shooting. Each of us was asked to carry an “angel” card with the name of one of the victims (pictured left). It was an emotional, but awesome experience to see the running the running community come together in such a big way. The following is what I wrote immediately after finishing the run:
26.4.26 – it wasn’t easy, but little Grace and I made it all the way through today. 26.38 miles completed in 3 hours and 43 minutes. I faded a bit in the last of the 4 loops but I was determined I wasn’t going to walk a step. I thought a lot today about Grace and the 25 other precious souls that lost their lives in the senseless tragedy at Newtown. We need to continue to pray for those families. I’m proud of the city of Nashville and our awesome running community for supporting this effort in such an overwhelming way. It was awesome to be a part of it.
Back in December 2013, rumors started to fly that one of the co-founders of the 26.4.26 Foundation could not account for over $70,000 of the approximately $103,000 that was raised by runs across the country.
Yesterday, this was essentially confirmed when the other co-founder stepped forward and explained that his partner had been caught purchasing personal items with some of the money, and then cut off all contact. I’m still hoping this is somehow not true, but it sure seems like things are very amiss.
The following articles were published on USAToday.com and Tennessean.com, and explain what is known so far:
- $70,000 in Newtown donations missing, says Nashville-based charity (Tennessean.com)
- $70,000 in Newtown donations missing (USAToday.com)
This absolutely breaks my heart. I keep thinking, “How could someone possibly do this?”