Atlanta Lawyer Making Every Second Count to Help Georgians Out of Poverty

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
Contact:

Luke Andrews of Jones Day, 404-581-8054,

lwandrews@jonesday.com

Alisa Bennett-Hart of Action Ministries, 770-861-5758 (cell), abennetthart@actionministries.net

Atlanta Lawyer Making Every Second Count to Help Georgians Out of Poverty

Masters division winner eyes the 2016 Atlanta Track Club Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon to raise funds for nonprofit

Atlanta, Ga. – October xx, 2016. A few years ago, Atlanta lawyer Luke Andrews was running road races around the country for the wildly successful Atlanta Track Club’s Men’s Masters Competitive Team. Then he couldn’t, sidelined by a rash of injuries. Now, at 47 years old, he’s trying to return to racing, but this time with a very different goal – to help the poverty-fighting efforts of his new team, Action Ministries, Inc.
Unable to race for most of the last four years, Andrews aims to compete once again at this year’s Atlanta Track Club Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. And he’s hoping people will bet on his success with pledges to Action Ministries.
The idea is to “make every second count.” Andrews and other Action Ministries supporters are asking people to pledge contributions to the organization if he simply finishes the 13.1 mile course. In addition, they are asking contributors to increase their gift for every second by which Andrews beats his goal time of one hour and 20 minutes (a pace of about six minutes and six seconds per mile).
Andrews, a litigator at the national corporate law firm Jones Day, started racing in 2009. Within a year, he was invited to compete for the ATC.
As a member of the club squad, he ran with and against some of the elite masters (over 40) runners in the country, helping the Atlanta team win national championships while posting some more than respectable times of his own. He peaked in 2012, when, among other achievements, he finished the 6.2-mile Peachtree Road Race in 34:41, ranking among the top 100 runners overall. Also that year, he notched a half-marathon “personal best” of 1:16:40.
But just as he was approaching the very top tier, it all ended. First, Andrews suffered torn plantar fascia on his foot, which kept him from running a step for several months. Other injuries followed, limiting him to slow jogging at best.
“It was a disappointment, definitely,” Andrews said. “I’d been giving a ton of effort toward making myself a competitive racer and then, boom, just like that, it was over. I couldn’t compete anymore.”
Andrews found a silver lining, however. With the time and energy he could no longer spend running, he joined the Action Ministries Board of Directors in 2014.
Action Ministries is a 53-year-old provider of hunger relief, housing and education services across Atlanta and North Georgia that has seen burgeoning success in recent years. Its Smart Lunch Smart Kid program this year served its one millionth meal after only four years in operation.
Recently, Andrews became head of the Action Ministries development committee. There he is charged with helping raise the funds the organization needs to accomplish its goal of lifting people out of poverty.
Then, about the same time he took over the development committee, his legs finally returned to near-normal. He found he was physically able to train again.
“At first it was a bit of an internal struggle,” Andrews said. “I mean, I had my health back, but with a job, my family, and this role at Action Ministries, I wasn’t sure I could train at the level I had done before.”
Then an idea occurred to him – merging two extracurricular pursuits. And he’s hoping people will join him in the endeavor.
Specifically, he has set his eyes on the 2016 Atlanta Track Club Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. Andrews won the masters division in that race back in 2010 and finished among the top three masters in 2011 and 2012. He has run the hilly course in as little as 1:17:40.
When he returns to the race this year after a four-year hiatus, his goal is to break 1:20:00, and in doing so, earn money for Action Ministries.
“I’m asking people to support the effort with a pledge,” Andrews said. “I’d love it if people would commit to a baseline pledge if I can just finish – and I will finish, one way or another. But the next part is the fun of it. On top of the base pledge, I’m asking people to add a little extra for every second I can come in under 1:20:00.”
For instance, if a donor pledges $20 dollars for finishing, plus one dollar for every second under 1:20:00, and Andrews finishes in 1:19:30, that’s a total of $50 dollars for Action Ministries.
“And that’s a win for the whole community,” said Scott Smith, the organization’s Chief Development Director. “Every $5.00 Action Ministries receives translates into a weekend of meals for a child, or $10.00 feeds a family across Atlanta and North Georgia for up to four days. Action Ministries also houses and provides educational services for those in need, and $2500 can provide permanent shelter for and individual via its rapid rehousing program.
“I’m hoping it will be a great victory for lots of people,” Andrews said, “a whole bunch of us working together to make every second count.”
Anyone interested can make a pledge at www.actionministries.net.

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