Sozo 5K goes virtual due to COVID-19

Sozo Children’s 9th Annual Run for a Reason has changed to a virtual run this year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The charity 5K benefitting Sozo Children, a Birmingham-based ministry serving the needs of vulnerable children in Uganda, was scheduled for April 18th but will now span a period of six days, from May 10th through the 16th.

To maintain proper social distancing requirements, runners can enroll online, challenge friends through social media, and compete for prizes virtually. Sozo joins many charities around the nation converting traditional marathons to virtual runs where runners can participate for fun or compete for prizes by setting their own routes and reporting official times online. Proceeds for the run will support at risk children in Uganda and some of the local programs of the ministry. Due to the virus outbreak, Sozo Trading Co. thrift store, The Sozo Children’s Choir, and foreign mission trips—which combined account for two-thirds of revenue for the ministry—have been put on hold.

“Sozo started out of an immediate need to care for the most vulnerable children in Uganda,” explains Suzanne Owens, CEO of Sozo Children. “While serving in Uganda, we witnessed children living in a children's home going without food for days at a time and being totally neglected and abused on many levels. We felt the Holy Spirit move and Sozo Children became a reality soon after,” said Owens.

The ministry began when Owens and her team met a three-year-old girl who could not bathe due to lack of water and whose feet were raw from rat bites. Initially, the new ministry took in 17 children from one former children’s home. Now beginning its 10th year, Sozo has grown to serve 120 children, providing housing, medical care, education, and more. Sozo also leads Kid’s Club—a twice-weekly Bible club in the local village community. As many as 500 children, some of whom walk miles to attend, share snacks and devotional time.

5K Participants can register online www.sozochildren.org/runforareason now and throughout the event. Each participant will receive a swag packet including a Sozo Run for a Reason shirt regardless of whether they are running for fun or competitively.