A Bulgarian Is Planning to Run 5 Marathons in the US to Support Teach For Bulgaria

Everyone is more than welcome to support Georgi Kardzhaliyski in his charitable endeavour by donating to his GlobalGiving campaign.

“I support Teach For Bulgaria’s cause because of teachers like Boryana – my high school physics teacher. She challenged me to analyze physics through my own perspective by using innovative teaching methods and project-based work which involved teacher-student team effort. As a result, I was accepted at a university here in the US. I’ve decided to run these marathons so that more students could have such amazing inspiring teachers like Boryana!”

This is how Georgi Kardzhaliyski, who currently lives and works in the US, outlines his motivation to run four half marathons in the summer of 2019 and to participate in the Chicago marathon in October. While running the distance of over 120 km, Georgi is also going to encourage his friends, acquaintances, and even perfect strangers to support Teach For Bulgaria and provide more students with access to quality education and inspiring teachers.

You can support his GlobalGiving campaign by making a donation here.

Georgi’s first challenge is coming up in just a week on June 16 at the Brooklynite Summer Half Marathon.

“I started running in February of 2017. At first, I ran on the treadmill at the gym and then I started running 5 and 10K competitions. I ran my first half marathon (21 km) in Cambridge, MA, in November of 2017 and my first marathon in Toronto in October of 2018. I’ve decided to support Teach For Bulgaria by running because it brings me personal satisfaction like nothing else. Besides, I’d like to challenge myself to run 42.195 km and I’d also like to proudly wave the Bulgarian flag at the finish line. Last but not least, I want to reach out to as many people as I can.”

The four half marathons Georgi is going to run this summer are going to prepare him for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide. 44 508 people crossed the finished line last year. The races in Boston, New York City, London, Berlin, Tokyo, and Chicago are part of the World Marathon Major Series. The runners in Chicago raised 22.7 million dollars for charity last year – an all-time record. Georgi is about to join them this year with his fundraising campaign for Teach For Bulgaria. You can make a donation here.

Georgi is not the first Teach For Bulgaria supporter to participate in a sports challenge like this one. Just like some of our other supporters – Elisa Emilova, Yavor Atanasov, Monika Zapryanova, and Georgi Baldzhiev – he has a very strong and personal reason to support our mission for equal access to quality education for every child in Bulgaria.

“I support Teach For Bulgaria because I believe in the mission of the organization – quality education for every child, regardless of where they live or what their socioeconomic status is. I grew up in a middle class family in the small town of Septemvri (September). My parents have always supported and encouraged me to pursue my interests and develop my potential, even if it posed a challenge to our family budget.”

After applying to several high schools at the end of 7th grade, Georgi decided to continue his education at the High School of Mathematics in Pazardzhik. He quickly became aware of the fact that many of his new classmates from the bigger town of Pazardzhik were much more open-minded and confident than him.

“They were much more knowledgeable than me, even though we had been taught the same subjects and the same curricula. I felt like I was the one who had to “catch up”, I was the one “lagging behind” not only in terms of knowledge, but also because I came from a smaller town, from a modest family. I later realized that my new classmates hadn’t been relying solely on their classes at school to get their education, but had participated in a variety of extracurricular activities with the support of their teachers. This had allowed them to develop skills outside the classroom – they had long-term dreams and personal goals which they pursued with specific action plans.”

The teachers at the High School of Mathematics in Pazardzhik, however, took every student’s learning needs into consideration, including those of students from smaller towns and villages. They helped their students adapt to the new environment and encouraged them to aim higher.

“By supporting Teach For Bulgaria’s cause I want to make sure that more students are going to have such teachers – to help them develop their potential, regardless of where they live or where they come from, to help them gain the confidence to believe they are capable of anything.”

Find out more about how to support Teach For Bulgaria’s work by challenging yourself for a cause here.

Make a donation here.

If you have any suggestions or ideas how we can reach new potential donors or supporters, don’t hesitate to email us at development@zaednovchas.bg.