By SIVE FAITH GINYA
Mo Plank is one of those people you can’t help but notice, a big bright smile lights his face (now that we can speak without masks), and you are drawn into his sense of purpose. Mo is a runner, but he doesn’t run just for himself; he runs to help others. He describes himself as “a social runner looking to change lives through running.”
On 10 July 2022, Mo will be running the Icons Marathon from Clarkebury to Mthatha – 103km!
Why? He is running to raise funds for LIV Lukhanyiso to buy bricks to build a community centre for orphaned and vulnerable children. Mo is currently looking for sponsors and supporters to get behind this initiative.
LIV is a registered non-profit organization (NPO) seeking to establish a village for orphaned and vulnerable children where they can have a sense of home with people who care for them and provide them with food and a school to educate them and a sense of community.
Mo first became involved with LIV in 2014 when he was involved in a soup kitchen initiative. He says that through meeting them and hearing their stories that “I have wanted to help.” When he heard that LIV had received a land donation in 2021, he saw the plans for this land and the village he wanted to be involved in supporting the project. He intended to run the Icons Marathon and decided to use this as an opportunity to “run for a purpose greater than myself.”
LIV has established villages in Cape Town, Durban and Lanseria but does not have the infrastructural capacity to build in Makhanda. This is where Mo comes in; he believes in this project and wants to see a LIV village built in Makhanda to care for our community’s most vulnerable children.
The road to the marathon has not been without challenges; Mo suffered a knee injury and has been in active recovery this last year. He has spent the last year working on his strength and rehabilitation to make this run, all 103 kilometres. He says that “I am ready now.”
Mo would like to raise R1000 for every kilometre he runs. He currently has R1000 in donations. If you want to support Mo and the children of our community, you can donate here on the Sport for Lives website: https://sportforlives.org/campaigns/runs-for-lives-run-for-liv-lukhanyiso/
Mo says he is looking for “anything coming from a person’s heart. One can contribute with anything; it does not need to be money.” The minimum donation is R3 per kilometre, or you can make a one-off donation.
Help Mo help our community’s most vulnerable children and donate today: https://sportforlives.org/campaigns/runs-for-lives-run-for-liv-lukhanyiso/
