Sadly the MDI half marathon was cancelled due to COVID but we are each pursuing equivalent activities (I'm going to run a half marathon the intended weekend, and mom is hiking 19 miles worth of peaks in Northeast Harbor) to raise money for the Longford Trust! 

As the single greatest teacher in the tristate area, my mom has taught me that storytelling, learning, and expression are transformative. The Longford Scholarships were set up in 2004 by the Longford Trust in memory of the former cabinet minister Lord Longford (1905-2001), a life-long campaigner for prison reform and, more generally, those on the margins of society. He believed in the paramount importance of education in the rehabilitation of those who have served jail sentences. Learn more here: https://www.longfordtrust.org/ 

While Longford supports people in the UK, there is also so much work to be done in the US:

- The U.S. is home to 5% of the population but 25% of the population in prison

- Black people make up 6.5% of the U.S. population but over 40% of the prison population. (1 in 17 vs 1 in 3 likelihood for white and black men respectively).

- In 1970, the prison population was 196,441. Today it's over 2.3 million, with a complete 180 in racial breakdown.

These stats show me that while education, such as the support provided by Longford, can help, true justice and growth require systemic change. As outlined here, https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/, the system is largely based on bias and error: For every 9 people executed on death row, one has been proven innocent.  

Please support our cause, and send to anyone else who'd be interested in getting involved! Thanks!