Ellie’s Run for Africa is the God-given dream of a young American girl to help families and children in Africa.  Combining educational efforts in area churches and schools with a 5K run and family fun day, Ellie’s Run for Africa raises awareness of and funding for Africans who struggle to meet basic needs such as health care, food, water, shelter, clothing and education.

Nearly five years ago, a child in Nashville was inspired to help other children – whom she had never met – across the ocean on a continent where she had never been. Stirred by the stories of hunger and disease told by Larry Warren, a missionary with African Leadership , that child – then-10-year-old Ellie Ambrose – began praying about and listening for God’s direction for this vision. Soon after that Sunday morning in October 2003, she believed that God was telling her “to go for it.”

With her dream – which included a race complete with “lots of fun kid’s games for my friends who don’t like to run” – Ellie was able to round up enough adults to help her start Ellie’s Run for Africa. Held in Nashville, Tennessee, the first event (2004) fulfilled the vision of Ellie’s prayers and heart and featured a 5K race, African dancers and a host of carnival-like games and activities.

She held the second event exactly a year later, featuring all of the same activities as the year before in addition to 1-mile races for kids and a special performance by Jars of Clay. With God’s help and Ellie’s persistence, Ellie’s Run has raised approximately $40,000 that has been used to help accomplish the following:

• Outfit hundreds of students with the shoes and uniforms that they need to attend school;
• Build four classrooms at the school located in Kibera – one of Nairobi’s worst slums;
• Donate funds for medical supplies at Mercy Children’s Clinic in Kenya and the Living Hope Clinic in South Africa to help Africans suffering dehydration, malaria, starvation and HIV/AIDS.

Every year, we need a lot of help to support the same efforts, so that Ellie’s dream of helping children in Africa have better access to the education and health care that they need can be realized. All proceeds from the event will be used toward fulfilling that dream. For information on the specifics of Ellie’s Run for Africa, please check out the rest of this Web site. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us an email at info@elliesrun.org. Thanks for your time!