Georgetown students ran 24 miles in 24 hours through Georgetown, helping the Asian American Student Association (AASA) raise over $1,300 to support Asian American youth organizations.

The Oct. 15 to 16 fundraiser was coordinated in collaboration with the Georgetown Running Club (GRC) and GU Triathlon and accompanied other fundraising activities including a bake sale and ramen eating contest Oct. 15 on Healy Lawn. Proceeds of the fundraiser were donated to the Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development (AALEAD), a non-profit organization that supports low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth with empowerment and leadership opportunities, and the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). Three-quarters of the proceeds were sent to AALEAD, with the remainder sent to MOCA. 

Ed Shen (MSB ’23), co-president of AASA, said AASA picked these organizations to donate to support Asian American children on a grassroots level.

“We really loved AALEAD’s mission to support Asian American youth from low-income backgrounds through educational empowerment, identity development, and leadership opportunities,” Shen wrote to The Hoya. “We felt that their work was crucial to the development of Asian American youth in the area and wanted to be a part of their mission.”

Yingqi Liu (MSB ’25), who helped plan the fundraiser and participated, said he suggested a portion of the proceeds be directed to MOCA as a part of a larger personal fundraising effort, in which he aims to raise $3,000 for the museum by the end of the year through his participation in the New York City Marathon as a charity runner. 

“They are a museum that preserves a Chinese narrative, an immigrant narrative, in New York City,” Liu told The Hoya. “And they are fighting against racial discrimination. They’re fighting against Asian hate. So I think that’s a really great opportunity for me to do something great, while also having an opportunity to run the New York City Marathon.” 

Data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that the rate anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339% in 2021, following an increase by 124% in 2020. 23% of Asian Americans and 29% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders report experiencing a hate incident at some point in their life, with 14% of Asian Americans and 16% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders saying they experienced such an incident in 2021 or 2022.

According to Margaret Lin (COL ’23), AASA co-president, said the event exceeded its fundraising target of $1,000, partially because of the support family members visiting campus during Family Weekend, the same weekend of the fundraiser. 

“It was really impressive of the runners, and representative of the combined personal efforts of AASA Board and members of GRC, Running Club, and Georgetown Bubble to have raised $1300!” Lin wrote to The Hoya. “We were very lucky to have the support of a lot of parents and Georgetown University relatives, since it happened during family weekend!”

Shen said that in coordinating this event, AASA drew inspiration from previous fundraisers that challenged participants while supporting efforts to raise money for charitable causes.

“In Spring 2021, I participated in a somewhat similar fundraiser called Run 24. A few of my friends began the fundraiser as a group project for a class and I decided to join last minute because it sounded like an interesting challenge,” Chen wrote. “The experience was quite tough, but also very fulfilling. I wanted to bring it back this year, build it bigger, and share the challenge with more members of the community!”

Four runners completed the entire 24 mile challenge, but according to Shen, the general public came out to support the runners, and even participated in certain stretches.

“Some of the highlights were the public runs, we had quite a few people join us and it was really nice to see the community come out and support us,” Shen wrote.

According to Anika Tsai (SFS ’26), a runner who participated in the entire 24 mile stretch, said it was empowering to see people come together in support of the fundraiser and its cause.

“I didn’t have a strong reason not to do it, and I didn’t know if I would have that opportunity again to do something like it with people,” Tsai wrote to The Hoya. “I felt like I got to see a different side of the Georgetown student community last weekend, not just in terms of their willingness to support a cause but also to support each other, including the people involved in running the fundraiser.”

Liu said the run was rewarding, not only because of the accomplishment of running a total of 24 miles, but also for fundraising for an important cause.

“I think it’s really fun in the fundraising process itself outside of running as being able to extend the mission of AASA,” Liu said. “Being able to finish the whole thing, pulling through for ourselves, that’s something that a lot of us didn’t think we could do, and being able to achieve that is just an amazing feeling.