About

I am planning to run the Seattle Marathon on November 29th, and decided to run in an effort to raise support and awareness about one of my favorite nonprofits in the area: Vittana.org.

Vittana is currently providing student loans in Latin America and expanding into Asia soon.  For many students, this is the first chance they’ve ever had to get a loan for education.  It’s a truly revolutionary spin on traditional microfinance, and I’m excited to be running in support of Vittana’s mission!

If you’d like to make a loan (which will be paid back eventually!) in support of my race, please follow these instructions:

1) Go to Vittana’s lending page (http://www.vittana.org/lend) and choose a student to whom you would like to make a make a loan.

2) Click “Learn More” and then “Lend Today.”  Choose whatever dollar amount you feel comfortable with.  When you are registering your account, please add “WelkeRace” to the end of your last name. This will allow the folks at Vittana to track how many loans are being offered in support of my marathon.

3) Enjoy knowing that you have contributed to another person’s education and helped to inspire me to run a bit faster (that will be very important at mile 23…)!

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information.  You know I’m always happy to talk–especially about microfinance!  Thanks for your support!