Race for LACE to benefit Kenya legal aid clinic

Following the success of last year’s Race for LACE to support the Legal Aid Centre of Eldoret, Kenya, organizers are seeking participants for this year’s event that coincides with the 5K race held with the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon on May 7.

Runners in the 5K will have their time compared with Kenyan runner and the winner of the 2010 Mini-Marathon, Janet Cherobon. Cherobon’s time was compared to runners last year as well. She has ties to Eldoret and is a supporter of the clinic, believing in its cause of providing civil legal aid to those who are involved in the AMPATH program, a medical partnership between Indiana University and Moi University in Kenya.

“All of us in the legal profession are committed to upholding basic human rights, and by participating in the Race for LACE we are literally taking steps toward making sure those rights have meaning for the people of Kenya,” said Fran Quigley, one of the founders of the legal clinic and an organizer of the Race for LACE. “Indiana has long had a deep and meaningful relationship with the people of Kenya, and the Race for LACE allows the Indiana legal community to put our best foot forward for justice – only not quite as quickly as our fast friend Janet Cherobon will be putting her feet forward!”

To sign up for the Race for LACE, participants can visit the 500 Festival 5K registration website. Because the 5K is filling up quickly, Race for LACE organizers encourage interested participants to sign up soon.

Those interested in participating in Race for LACE can receive more information about gathering pledges and meeting the team by sending an e-mail to Becca Shelton, Race for LACE coordinator, [email protected]. Each participant will receive a Race for LACE t-shirt to wear during the run to promote LACE.

Checks for pledges should be made to IU Foundation/Kenya Partnership with “Legal Aid Centre of Eldoret” in the memo field.

A dozen attorneys and supporters of LACE participated on last year’s team, and they raised at least $9,000. This year, organizers hope to have more participants and raise more money.