Hot Chocolate Run 2022

You can change someone’s life. You might even save a life.

Another year, another race. So if you come downtown Northampton on December 4, you can watch me toddle along the race route.

My goal is to be among the top 10 fundraisers this year, so I need all of your help getting there.  So many of you have been generous year after year and it is so appreciated by me and by Safe Passage.

There is, of course, heightened financial need due to inflation.  And when money is tight, domestic violence goes up.  Please be generous this year.

Please donate BEFORE DECEMBER 1.  Why wait??  Please donate now.

As I'm sure most of you know, Safe Passage helps individuals and families experiencing domestic violence.  As I have told potential donors before, it is really important to me to raise money for them because, when I was in my early 30s - a while ago! - before I met Jim and Isabel was not yet on the earth, I volunteered with a place called Child and Parent Support Services in Durham, NC, where I was living at the time.  I played with the kids, abused, neglected kids, while their parents or guardians got counselling.  After a bit, the organization asked me to be on the board.  Even though it was a tiny agency, it was doing really needed work.  When I moved to this area I really wanted to do similar volunteering, but with a small child - Isabel was three - and ever more demanding work, I have not been able to contribute as a hands-on volunteer.  And I don't have a lot to contribute monetarily (although I do make a contribution every year beyond the race entry fee).  So in lieu of being able to do that kind of volunteering, fundraising for Safe Passage is really important to me so that I can feel I've contributed to an organization helping kids as well as adults.

You can donate anonymously or with your name listed.  You can also mail (or hand) me a check made out to Safe Passage and I will turn it in on race day and list the contribution on the Hot Chocolate website either anonymously or in your name, whichever you prefer.  

All contributions are tax-deductible, and you’ll receive an emailed receipt immediately after you donate.  

Thank you so much in advance.  You have no idea how much I appreciate every donation, no matter the size.  Please donate right now so you can be spared further emails (except a big thank you and a report on the race itself).

Only 32 days until the race, just one month before the donating deadline of December 1!  Please donate here as soon as you can.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Information about Safe Passage – the Hampshire County organization building safety, hope and justice for families who have lived with domestic violence.

Will you help me make a difference for families affected by abuse?

Safe Passage delivers an array of support, counseling and prevention services that offer safety, hope and healing to adults and children experiencing violence in Hampshire County and surrounding towns.

And that’s why I am committed to raising money through the Hot Chocolate Run.

Will you join me in standing up for our neighbors experiencing violence and isolation?

Together, we can help meet the needs of the community members that Safe Passage serves through counseling, shelter, children’s services, legal advocacy, and so much more. But Safe Passage will be able to continue offering all its services free of charge to clients thanks to the generosity of everyone who responds to the Hot Chocolate Run this year. Inflation makes everything more expensive.  Please be generous.

Please consider making the most meaningful donation you can right now. I will be enormously grateful.

You can click the red "donate" button to make your donation. If you have any questions or want to hear more about the Run and the great work Safe Passage does, please feel free to be in touch. 

Thank you so much for joining me.