Young Women's Christian Association of Greater Green Bay Inc

Hello, my name is Sam Van Straten.

I am a Senior in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as a member of my high school cross country team. A few months ago, I came across some statistics that bothered me. In a 2018 Running USA report of the ethnicities in running, 75% of runners are white caucasian and 56% of runners make over $100,000 as their annual salary. So I looked deeper into my own town of Green Bay. In some of our bigger local organized races, I learned over 40% of runners made over $100,000 in one and over 30% of runners made over $100,000 in another. There was no specific ethnicity information but local race directors and coaches I spoke with stated participants are disproportionately white, and it saddens them as well that we have a divide in such a great life sport. So what are the barriers? I have made it my mission to dig into this issue and break them down in my community.  I am working with Casa ALBA Melanie, a local non-profit Hispanic resource center to understand more. 


Furthermore, in partnership with the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) Greater Green Bay, we have created a Runners’ Locker. For families in the Green Bay area who do not have the extra money to buy athletic clothing, quality running shoes, and pay race entries into races, we want to help provide those items for them. You can help us turn this dream into a reality! In addition to bringing your gently-used running clothing there, you can also help by donating so we can buy running goods and race entry vouchers for these runners. My initial goal is to raise $5,000. To inspire you for your donation, I am willing to run and bike in a duathlon for 100 miles. The course will be from the YWCA in Green Bay, WI to the very tip of the Door County peninsula at Gills Rock.


We all need to find our small corner of this world where we can each help to make change. Running is my passion, and all deserve to have the right to know the same joys. With your help, we can all make this dream a reality to make running a more inclusive sport. Please donate now, and I look forward to seeing you all out on the roads.