Official Charity Partners
Running For a Reason
Interested in fundraising for a charity? We offer many options to support worthy organizations throughout the country. With a minimum donation of financial support (varies by charity), you’ll receive a guaranteed race entry to a Big Sur Marathon event and, in some cases, online training and/or other benefits from the charity including the camaraderie and special feeling of helping others.
Keep scrolling to learn more about our 2023 charity partners. If you are interested in signing up with one of our charities, follow the link provided for your charity of interest. If possible, look to a charity that has meaning for you, whether in memory of a family member, to support a friend, or because of your own personal experience.
Our Official 2023 Charity Partners:
The Allyson Whitney Foundation is an all volunteer organization supporting young adults diagnosed with rare cancers with Life Interrupted Grants. AWF is shining a light on an underserved demographic; assisting with medical and living expenses, so patients can concentrate on healing and not bills. Other initiatives include, distributing HOPE comfort bags and funding innovative research. Contact: barbara@allysonwhitney.org
 American Cancer Society – DetermiNation
When you join DetermiNation, you’re not just participating in an endurance event. You’re pushing yourself to help save lives from cancer. Just like hard work goes into your event training, the American Cancer Society gives it our all through things like breakthrough research, patient programs and services, and a free 24/7 cancer helpline. Together, we’ll tackle every course, rally every community, and stay absolutely relentless in the fight against cancer.
Contact: jessica.ruiz@cancer.org
Back on My Feet combats homelessness through the power of fitness, community support and essential employment and housing resources.
Contact: mary.sullivan@backonmyfeet.org
Help us build a better future for poor children in Peru: join our Big Sur Marathon team and raise funds to help us make grants to our select group of non-governmental organizations working in Peru to provide better healthcare & education for poor children.
Contact: edouard@childrenofperu.org
Every Mother Counts was born from the recognition that not all birthing people enjoy the same access and privilege when it comes to maternity care. In some parts of the world, women have to travel many miles to reach a provider or clinic while pregnant or in labor, often by foot. We run as a way to raise awareness of maternal health disparities.
Contact: teamemc@everymothercounts.org
Extra Mile Pediatrics is a nonprofit organization that provides repeated, quality healthcare to children in underserved communities in Central America where families have great difficulty accessing even the most basic care. Our team of runners, and the funds they raise, will directly provide teams of healthcare providers, clinic equipment, medications, and more to patients and families across 8 different communities in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Contact: extramilepeds@gmail.com
Come run with Team HFOT in the Big Sur International Marathon or 11 Miler & make every mile count for our mission of Building Homes & Rebuilding Lives. Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) is a publicly funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives.
Contact: klandry@hfotusa.org
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our strength lies in our exclusive focus and singular influence on the worldwide effort to end T1D. Mission: Improving lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. JDRF works every day to change the reality of this disease for millions of people—and to prevent anyone else from ever knowing it—by funding research; advocating for government support of research and new therapies; ensuring new therapies come to market and are recommended by healthcare providers; and connecting, engaging, and educating the T1D community.
Contact: teamjdrf@jdrf.org
LUNGevity Foundation is the nation’s leading lung cancer organization focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, education, and support for patients, survivors, and caregivers. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization.
Contact: kginda@lungevity.org
38 million Americans face hunger each day. Meanwhile, we are wasting 35% of the food we produce each year. By joining Team Move For Hunger at the Big Sur Marathon, you can support our hunger relief and food rescue programs, one mile at a time.
Contact: margo@moveforhunger.org
National Brain Tumor Society’s official endurance program is called Gray Nation Endurance. Our official charity team will dedicate their training and fundraising to support the NBTS mission while putting meaning behind their miles for themselves, their loved ones, and to fuel a new era of progress toward a cure for all brain tumors. Submit an application with our team or email endurance@braintumor.org for more information.
Contact: endurance@braintumor.org
Organization for Autism Research
The Organization for Autism Research is a national charity located in Arlington, Virginia. Parent-founded and led, OAR set out to use applied science to answer questions that parents, families, autistic individuals, teachers, and caregivers confront daily.
No other autism organization has this singular focus. Join the RUN FOR AUTISM team and dedicate your miles to autism research and OAR!
Contact: run@researchautism.org
The Parkinson’s Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. Parkinson’s Champions participate in the Parkinson’s Foundation’s community fundraising and endurance programs to raise funds and awareness for PD. Together, Parkinson’s Champions have hosted more than 150 annual community fundraisers across the country, run more than 15,000 miles and raised nearly $15 million to help make lives better for people living with Parkinson’s.
Contact: zorner@parkinson.org
Semper Fi & America’s Fund cares for our nation’s critically wounded, ill, and injured service members, veterans, and military families. Supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, we provide one-on-one case management, connection, and lifetime support. Today. Tomorrow. Together.
Contact: michelle.leonard@thefund.org
Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions of children with clefts around the world live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Our sustainable model provides training, funding, and resources to empower local doctors in 85+ countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities.
Contact: cmauck@smiletrain.org
