We ran the Paris Marathon to make a difference

Coming from South Africa it’s natural to wonder how one of us can make a difference in a first-world country like France. We generally go into Africa or other third-world countries to help and to give back, but the truth is we can make a difference with everything we do, anywhere in the world.

I was reminded how easy it is to make a difference after our recent ski holiday at Club Med Val Thorens in the French Alps, which was one of the best holidays I’ve ever had.

The timing was perfect and we couldn’t leave France without running the Paris Marathon. CN&CO runners joined our good friends Simon and Christelle Colman, Lucy Lightfoot and others for the event. Christelle is CEO of Europ Assistance and Lucy is part of the marketing team at RMB (both CN&CO clients) while Simon, a.k.a. @liabilityguy, is an executive at liability underwriter SHA.

A few years ago I met Jenna Lowe, a young lady waiting for a double lung transplant. Instead of complaining and being depressed, she started a website www.getmeto21.com encouraging South Africans to become organ donors.

This was the start of Christelle and my drive to start creating awareness around organ donation. (By the way, how is it possible that fewer than 0.2% of South Africans are organ donors when it only takes a minute to become one?) We dedicated our run in the Paris Marathon to this cause.

Europ Assistance kitted us out in proudly South African kit for the marathon, while we all worked towards driving awareness and raising money for the Organ Donor Foundation.

Through our efforts we managed to raise close to R75 000 and hopefully encouraged thousands of people to become organ donors. Not only did we have the best holiday, we also met great people, did good business and made a big difference.

Do your bit; become an organ donor and encourage your friends and family to do so, too. It’s easy and really only takes a minute. Click here: https://www.odf.org.za/donor-registration