Photo above: YMCA Coach Dan Blankenship talks to his runners shortly before their last training run before the Monument Ave. 10K in Richmond on March 27.

I just posted my first blog at Change.org about a Richmond, VA coach who coached 19 people to their first 10K this winter. The men and women will be racing Saturday, March 27th at the Monument Ave 10K here in Richmond. The intro to the story begins:

More than 37,000 runners will compete in Saturday’s Monument Avenue 10k in Richmond, Virginia. For at least 19 participants, crossing the finish line represents something extra special. They’re all homeless, in various stages of transition, from living in shelters and unemployed, to working full-time and transitioning out of shelters back into homes and jobs. Training for and finishing this 10k has been one way they’ve all learned to set a goal, achieve it and feel good about themselves.

What makes this story so remarkable is what I call the “butterfly effect” (the idea that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas). It’s all happening because a woman named Anne Mahlum in Philadelphia dared to make a difference in her community. Read the entire story at: Change.org. http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/the_finish_line_is_just_the_beginning_for_homeless_runners.

I write a lot about “The Butterfly Effect.” Because I believe everything we say and do makes a ripple. Some of them are huge, others merely persistent. Just when you think one person can’t make a difference, you see that they actually can and do…..This is one of those stories. I hope you’ll visit change.org and read it. Every “hit” or view the page gets sends a message - that stories of HOPE are important, that ONE person CAN make a difference. It’s an amazing thing. Become part of it.