Welthungerhilfe event Record number of participants in ZeroHungerRun in Bonn
Bonn · There were record numbers of participants and donations at the ZeroHungerRun in the Bonn Rheinaue this year. 2127 runners took part and nearly Euro 40,000 was raised for the worthwhile cause.
The interest from runners in the ZeroHungerRun exceeded all expectations of the organisers from Welthungerhilfe. In the end, 2127 runners competed on Sunday, including 74 girls and boys at the premiere of the Bambini-Run over 400 metres. Altogether, with their entry fee donations, this resulted in Euro 40,000. This is more money than in the previous two years combined.
Udo Wohlrab was motivated to take part again, as he did last year, by the “good underlying cause”. One hundred per cent of the proceeds flow into Welthungerhilfe food programmes. Wohlrab also encouraged Gabriele Rothkopf, Marcus Weinkopf and his 15-year-old daughter Amelie to take part. “We want to donate and run a bit.”
Ten-year-old Tim also ran the five kilometre race for his school, the Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium, after some pressure from his mother, who was also there at the start. “So children in other countries get food,” was how Tim explained why he was finally knuckling down in the Rheinaue. Participation was important to his mother, “because the event is worth supporting.”
Welthungerhilfe had celebrity support from the actress Liz Baffoe, who did not join the run because of a cold, and the singer-songwriter Robert Redweik. He has been an ambassador for the organisation’s Skill-up-Project since the start of the year. “We provide training for young people between the ages of 15 and 25 from the Kibera slum in Nairobi.” The aim is to get them out of poverty so that they can ultimately employ others and are able to support their families.
Counteracting world hunger
Junior staff from Deutsche Telekom also wanted to “counteract hunger in the world.” That is why Svenja Siemer from the Training Department was able to persuade students and trainees like Marco Sieler to take part. “Beautiful weather, a beautiful run, I have the time and can do something good,” he explained. He ran the ten kilometres, for which Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan gave the starting signal alongside the celebrities and Mathias Mogge, General Secretary of Welthungerhilfe. In general, the number of starving people worldwide is falling, said Mogge. In some countries it is getting worse again, such as in Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan, where there are conflicts. Food aid is often political work, such as in India.
First in the five kilometre race were Stefanie Richter (18:45 minutes) and Aaron Wagner (16:05 minutes) and in the ten kilometre race Gina Purschke (41:48 minutes) and Ghebsha Ghebrengus (33:53 minutes). The largest team was from Deutsch Post DHL with 193 participants.
(Original text: Stefan Knopp / Translation: kc)
