Meet Jarett Poliner

Jarett Poliner has joined Team EKF for the first time to run in the TCS New York City Marathon this year! We are thrilled to introduce our amazing runners, including Jarett, to our community., We hope you enjoy getting to know them during their journey to 26.2 miles around NYC and as they raise funds to support our mission!

What inspired you to run the TCS New York City Marathon this year?
It has always been a dream of mine to run the New York Marathon, and after researching different charity organizations I could run it with, I felt even more excited at the prospect of running with team EKF.

Have you ever run in a marathon before?

I have actually run an Ultra Marathon (100 miles in 24 hours) but have never run an official Marathon. I was registered for the Big Sur marathon in 2020 but it was canceled due to COVID- 19.

Why do you want to run with Team EKF and raise funds for our mission? 

After doing my research into different charity organizations, I believe the mission of Team EKF is worth committing to as I feel strongly about the cause of aiding impact-driven pediatric programs and supporting the child life community. I’ve seen how harsh healthcare can be for a child, and I’m honored to be able to play a small role in correcting that truth.

What is a fun fact about you?

A fun fact is that I used to be a Division I NCAA Fencer in college!

If you had to give people one piece of advice, related to anything, what would it be?
The most widely applicable advice I can think of is: You can’t get to point B before knowing where point A is, and baby steps turn into huge leaps.

We are so grateful to Jarett for his dedication to enCourage Kids and we cannot wait to cheer him on during the marathon on November 7^th! If you want to support Jarett in his fundraising, you can visit: https://fundraisers.hakuapp.com/fundraisers/038777b082326eb2486a

Meet Dale Humphries

This is a first from Team enCourage Kids, but we are joined this year by Dale Humphries all the way from Georgia! His daughter, Mallory, is our Communications Manager here at enCourage Kids Foundation. Dale is no stranger to running marathons, but he has only ever run them within an Ironman. If you are unfamiliar, an Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a full, 26.2-mile, marathon. So he is excited to check an official marathon off his bucket list, as well as get the opportunity to run through all five boroughs.

We asked Dale to share a few fun facts about himself to get to know him a little better. He let us know that he might be the biggest University of Georgia football fan out there and has been cheering them on his whole life. He has been married to his wife, Lynn, for 29 years and they have three children, Mallory, Harrison, and Jenna. As we mentioned earlier, Dale is an avid exercise enthusiast and as of last weekend, he has finished 3 full Ironmans and 7 Half-Ironmans. That is 15.6 miles of swimming, 728 miles of biking, and 169.9 miles of running!

Dale is excited to run with Team enCourage Kids and raise money because he believes in the powerful effect laughter and joy can have on anyone. He has loved seeing and hearing about the mission from his daughter and wanted to be able to support enCourage Kids has they continue to help humanize healthcare for children and their families around the country.

We are so thankful to have Dale on our team and we cannot wait to see him add 26.2 more miles to his ever-growing tally!

If you would like to support Dale in his fundraising, you can donate here.

Meet Emma Wolk

We are so excited to have our Development Manager, Emma, on Team enCourage Kids this year for the TCS New York City Marathon! Learn more about Emma and why she is choosing to run 26.2 miles with us this November.

I’m excited to make my miles matter and look forward to raising critical funds to help meet the needs of hospitalized children across the country.

Millions of children enter the hospital each year. They are scared of the unknown, stressed by an environment that isn’t home, are lonely without the constant company of their family and friends, and afraid of the potential pain and procedures. enCourage Kids programs and support of hospitals helps to alleviate that. Their work creates positive energy and safe spaces for sick kids and families to learn about diagnoses, to express their anxieties, to tackle treatment, and more.

I feel passionate about supporting enCourage Kids Foundation’s mission and want to help bring us closer to a world where every child doesn’t feel dread, fear, and anxiety during a hospital stay. By raising funds, my goal is to help kids and their families experience moments of relief and to be able to smile – even in a place that is often scary and uncomfortable.

The work enCourage Kids does is so important, and I am proud to help them be able to continue to serve and reach even more pediatric facilities and patients across the country.

And of course, I also can’t wait to run all 5 boroughs of NYC and be able to accomplish running 26.2 miles in my favorite city!

If you would like to support Emma, you can donate to her fundraising page here or leave an encouraging comment below.

Thank you, Emma, for your continued dedication and support of enCourage Kids Foundation!

Meet Kelsey Bryant

This is Kelsey’s first time running with Team enCourage Kids and we are so happy to have her on board! A little bit more about Kelsey: she is a doctor who focuses on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. If you were to ever run into Kelsey on the street, you would most likely also meet her sidekick, Pumba! He is her dog, and one of the most important parts of her life is being his mom.

When asked why she wants to fundraise for enCourage Kids, she said “There is little to no funding making the experience of healthcare more tolerable, so making the illness less traumatic often falls on private support. Health care is terrifying, and even more so if you are a kid, humanizing the experience is a worthy cause and the NYC marathon is a life goal of mine.”

She is most looking forward to hugging Pumba at the end of the marathon! If you would like to support Kelsey, you can donate to her fundraising page here or leave an encouraging comment below.

Thanks for all your fundraising efforts and commitment to enCourage Kids, Kelsey!