Over 50 Moms participated in LA’s MUD GIRL run on Sunday October 1st raising money for two local charities with the goal of raising awareness to the disparities in Black maternal health and the struggles of LA county’s foster youth.
MAEVE is an international non-profit, charitable organization that seeks to empower all who mother in support of one another and their communities. Four LA local chapters, MAEVE Burbank, West Adams, Foothills and Mount Washington-Glassell Park have banded together to form an LA collective, this is their first multi-chapter charity initiative.
In addition to participating in the MUD GIRL run, where a portion of the entry fee is donated to breast cancer research, the chapters have chosen two local charities to donate to. Burbank, Foothills and West Adams will be donating $1060 to iDREAM for Racial Health Equity. In LA County, Black/African American babies are two to three times more likely to die before their first birthday than babies of other races and Black/African American women are four times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy complications than women of other races.
Harmful stress from the structural and social racism Black women face daily is at the root of the problem. “The mission of i.D.R.E.A.M. for Racial Health Equity, a project of Community Partners®, is to equip a learning community of visionaries with a comprehensive understanding of maternal and infant health throughout the life course. The i.D.R.E.A.M. Vision 2025: Inspiring Generational Champions for Resilience and Good Health continues the urgent call for leadership, training, advocacy and community service on behalf of Black birthing families.” *excerpt from iDREAM website mission and values page.
“Motherhood and maternal wellness is at the core of MAEVE’s values and being able to make a contribution towards the work iDREAM does to safeguard the health of Black mothers and infants feels like a natural connection between our chapters and iDREAM’s mission” says Kathryn Kennedy, VP of Community Service for MAEVE Burbank. Donations can be made directly to iDREAM through their website idreamnow.org.
The Mount Washington-Glassell Park chapter has committed to a year long chapter wide service initiative to United Friends of the Children, to create the biggest impact they can to helping foster children coming of age to transition out of the system. In LA County, 36% of foster youth become homeless within 18 months of aging out of foster care, one in four are incarcerated within two years and 56% do not graduate from high school. For this event they will be donating $250 to the charity. Donations can be made directly to United Friends of Children directly through their website https://www.unitedfriends.org
Rhiannon Clark, MAEVE member and FIT4Mom Instructor, has been hosting free mom kid friendly running & strength training sessions for our members from mid-Aug lasting up to the event as the Mom’s get in shape for the event. “I love doing these free workouts every year! Running is such a passion of mine, and I truly believe that anyone can run when they have proper guidance and accountability. Growing up, no one ever really teaches you to run. What your form should look like, how to fuel your body, how to train for something and how to make running enjoyable is never something that is taught in school. (Unless you do track or cross country, and sometimes you don’t even learn those skills there. It’s just a guessing game.) When MAEVE first chose to do a run for a cause I knew we could get more people to sign up if they had free in person training, specifically for running. This year was even more fun because we added the strength training workout as well. These Mama’s are incredible, and I have loved to see their determination and strength grow week to week. One of the most rewarding parts of this is seeing their self-confidence grow and watching their excitement as they hit their goals. I cannot wait for these women to cross the finish line and check this off their bucket lists!” 
