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Levi Rizk, along with his wife, Mandy, and daughter, Irie, is traveling across the country to raise money and awareness for the Hope Association’s effort to convert an RV into a mobile clinic for underprivileged children. Rizk runs between 30 and 40 miles per day on his 3,000-mile journey called Run for Hope. -
Levi Rizk, along with his wife, Mandy, and daughter, Irie, is traveling across the country to raise money and awareness for the Hope Association’s effort to convert an RV into a mobile clinic for underprivileged children. Rizk runs between 30 and 40 miles per day on his 3,000-mile journey called Run for Hope.
A Virginia doctor and his family stopped in Snyder this week as he runs cross-country while raising money to turn an RV into a mobile clinic for underprivileged children.
Levi Rizk is a family doctor in Hot Springs, Va. For about eight years, Rizk has been running ultramarathons, which are defined as all races longer than the 26.2 miles run in a marathon. Ultramarathons can range from 26.3 miles to more than 100.
Earlier this year, a man in California donated an RV to the Hope Association in Washington, D.C. to be used as a mobile clinic. As the organization looked for a way to bring the RV from the Los Angeles area to the east coast, Rizk suggested he fly out to California and run across the country using the RV as his home base. In the process, Rizk hoped to use the RV as a tool to raise awareness for the cause of turning the RV into a mobile clinic for children in the D.C. area who either don’t have health insurance or don’t have a reliable source of transportation to get to a clinic. He talked with his wife, Mandy, about the idea.
“We thought about it for a little while and decided to go ahead with the project,” Rizk said. “By April or May for sure, that’s when we said, ‘this is definitely happening.’”
Rizk was granted a leave of absence from his job in Virginia and on Sept. 11, Levi, Mandy, their two-year-old daughter Irie and their friend Phil Rizkalla departed California for a 100-day journey called Run for Hope. With Rizkalla driving the RV and Mandy and Irie in a van, Rizk runs between 30 and 40 miles per day on average. Sunday night, the RV stopped in Snyder.
The goal is to raise $250,000. Not quite halfway into Rizk’s journey, more than $135,000 has been raised. While the money is important, Mandy Rizk said it is more about creating awareness and passion about the cause.
“I’m hoping to see where this passion comes from and see him pass it on to other people,” Mandy Rizk said.
As if running 3,000 miles and raising $250,000 wasn’t daunting enough, the Rizks are dealing with another unique challenge. Right after they decided to embark on their journey, Levi and Mandy learned they would be having another child later this year. Their second daughter is due Dec. 7, a week before the RV is scheduled to arrive in D.C. Mandy Rizk said it has not always been easy, but that the cause makes it worth it.
“Irie and I were coming with him no matter what,” Mandy Rizk said. “We believe God has called us to do this. There’s not really a good time to do this. Once you decide you’re going to do something like this, you put everything else on hold.”
Rizk credits his faith for allowing him to endure runs of seven and eight hours. Before each run, he prays and writes a Bible verse on a whiteboard in the RV. Like Mandy, Levi said he felt called to make a change and said he is grateful for the opportunity to do this.
For more information, visit runforhope.us.