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You don’t have to be a huge nonprofit or save millions of lives simultaneously to consider yourself a world-changer.

The Student Athletic Advisory Comittee (SAAC) at Western Kentucky University has organized a 5K charity event run called Run4Rice, raising money and supplies (more specifically – rice) for the Bowling Green International Center. As part of the $15 race day registration fee to participate in the 5k, runners are encouraged to bring a bag of white rice to donate to the BGIC while the additional funds raised at the event will go toward the purchase of rice cookers.

Why rice?

The BGIC settles refugees who are escaping turmoil in their home countries. Currently there are around 600 different refugees settling in the Bowling Green area that are receiving some sort of aid from the BGIC. The center often times doesn’t have sufficient funds to do all that it needs to do in regards to refugee aid and relies heavily on help from private donations. Since rice is a major food staple in several of these refugees’ native countries, the WKU chapter of SAAC wanted to do something that would help the refugees and the BGIC so helping with the supply of rice and rice cookers seemed like the logical place to start.

Bowling Green, Kentucky has a large percentage of the population that participates in weekend 5K run/walks so Jessica Magley, a SAAC representative from WKU’s women’s basketball team, decided that a road race style event could attract the greatest attention and do the most efficient job raising awareness for the BGIC.

WKU’s official motto is how it’s “A leading American university with international reach.” According to Patrick Jenkins, track athlete and another SAAC member/Run4Rice organizer “This is just another great way that SAAC can help promote our university’s motto.”

More info about the race can be found by clicking this link or checking out the event here on this Facebook link.

Social responsibility starts in our own communities. How are you promoting social good in your neck of the woods?