Anyone walking around campus Sunday morning would have been surprised to see a goat hanging around the Old Union. This goat was from the farm of Dickinson Community faculty master Kim Jaussi, who came out to support the dozens of participants in the fourth annual Running with the Goats 5K.
After donating $10 apiece, 72 participants ran or walked twice around the Brain, starting at the Old Union. The event was hosted by student entrepreneurial club Enactus, and was a fundraiser for Coins for Change, a charity organization that offers educational support and services to poor and under-served families of Africa. The group raised $822, which will provide the Massai tribe in Kenya with 17 goats.
Jacob Ruzi, a Dickinson resident assistant who helped organize the event, was formerly the co-project manager of Coins for Change. He said that he chose to walk for the Massai tribe because it is a nomadic society that is struggling to maintain its culture’s standard of living, and goats are vital to its society’s herding lifestyle.
“In 2009, there was a drought that killed off a lot of their livestock, which is why we donate goats,” said Ruzi, a senior majoring in computer science.
Ruzi explained that the money goes toward buying Galla goats, specifically, which produce more milk than the typical east African goat.
According to Oluwaseun Fadairo, current Enactus project leader for Coins for Change and a senior majoring in biology, goats are a great asset that can provide milk for the people, and they can also be sold to get other necessary resources.
“The goats can have babies so they are a gift that keeps on giving,” Fadairo said. “It raises their standard of living, so it really changes peoples lives like every single day.”
The event was also sponsored by Binghamton University’s B-Healthy Initiative as well as Dickinson RAs. B-Healthy provided information on the benefits of exercise, while Enactus tabled to sell beaded jewelry made by the Massai.
Briana Renois, who works for B-Healthy and is a junior majoring in nursing, was one of the tablers in the Old University Union and distributed literature on living a healthy lifestyle. She said that fundraising events like this help the global community while also providing tangible benefits to the participants.
“It’s super important for Binghamton University students to get enough exercise, and at this event they can even do that with their family if they are here family weekend,“ Renois said.
Kali West, a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, participated in the run and said she was happy to participate in something that brought fitness and altruism together.
“I like to get involved,” West said. “I like to run and I like charity, and this brings them together.”
Dana Willie, a senior majoring in accounting, is one of the Dickinson RAs who helped put on the event. She said she was proud of the money they raised and the impact it will have on the Massai people.
“It is a fun and healthy way to help out charity,” Willie said. “I think in college it’s important to give back. We get so much from this University and to be able to give back [is important].”