By Shirley L Ng, AsAmNews Staff Writer
Running to support your community means giving it all you got, again.
Last May, Leland Yu ran 61 miles and raised over $24,000 to support Chinatown. Now he’s ready for his Run For Chinatown Part 2, on December 5th, but this time he’s running more miles and inviting everyone to run with him.
Yu announced his Run For Chinatown Part 2 last week with a video on his Instagram about running 70 miles to support his home community.
He made headlines last May after being interviewed about his support for Chinatown by CBS reporter Cindy Hsu .
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“I’m inviting everyone to join me, but run at their own pace. They can run the entire 70 miles or just a portion of the route. Runners can ask their friends to sponsor a dollar amount to every mile they finish,” Yu told AsAmNews. He plans to run a comfortable pace at a 11-12 minute mile and head out the door at 6am.
The money raised will go to Welcome to Chinatown‘s Longevity Fund, a small business relief fund to support Chinatown businesses. According to their webpage, they have reached over 200 businesses and distributed $50,000 so far.
Chinatown has been hit hard financially due to COVID-19 and xenophobia since March. Due to cultural and socioeconomic barriers, many small businesses were not able to have access to government assistance programs, that’s where Welcome To Chinatown bridges that gap.
Yu, was a chef, but has been laid off due to the pandemic. However, he has been enjoying cooking extravagant meals of his own design to keep busy. He is also anxiously waiting to complete the FDNY firefighter exam, but there has been no new date set.
“I’m very proud of my son,” said Yu’s mom, Minerva. “He’s running to beat his last run of 61 miles. I hope that others will join him to raise awareness and the much needed funds for the Chinatown community. “
A GoFundMe page will be set up where all the runners can ask their supporters to donate there. More information is to follow and will be posted on Instagram.
Contact Yu on his Instagram page, @RunForChinatown if you would like to join him or have any questions.
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