Kimberly's Story
The Petey Greene Program is thrilled to be an official charity partner of the TCS New York City Marathon and we are thrilled to introduce you to one of our amazing runners!
Kimberly Mason
Kimberly Mason and her fiance, Ryan Trinidad who is also a marathon runner for the Petey Greene Program, stumbled upon the PGP while in search of an organization to run with in the TCS Marathon. “What better way than to bring in a marriage than tackling something really challenging together?”
The Petey Greene Program’s work and mission stood out to Kimberly personally, having experienced a challenging academic journey herself growing up. As a student, the traditional learning styles and methods used in schools failed to resonate with her. “I definitely grew up never really having teachers that believed in me. But there is this interesting relationship with education and humanity. That’s our entry point into society and it’s important to have someone who believes in you or feels you’re worth something.”
For Kimberly, that person was her school’s track coach, Coach A. He encouraged her to join the track team, which in turn, motivated her to improve her grades so she would be able to continue running. “He saw something in me. I don’t know what it was. So I went to the practice, and it gave me a purpose.” This experience played a large role in solidifying Kimberly’s decision to run for the Petey Greene Program, along with her appreciation that the PGP focuses specifically on racial disparities and inequalities in the creation and perpetuation of the criminal legal system.
“I almost see myself in these people, in the sense that they just need someone to believe in them. They just need someone to hear them. Being able to have a program like this that says, ‘Hey, look, you can get this. We believe in you. You’re intelligent.’ is very powerful.”
Running has always been therapeutic and rewarding for Kimberly, however the PGP has provided an added sense of meaning and motivation to her running journey.
“When it gets hard at mile 15 or mile 16, I’ll have to keep going because I feel a newfound sense of purpose. I know I have a team behind me and people who I’m doing this for.”
Kimberly urges you to support her run and the PGP’s fight for educational justice: “I think if you believe in us as a society, as one, it’s a worthy cause to support. We’ve all made mistakes in life everyone deserves a second chance. Education is the start of that.”
The Petey Greene Program relies on the help of community members and people like you to maintain the reach of our programs and the high quality of our resources. You can sponsor Kimberly’s marathon run here. We are so grateful for your commitment, Kimberly!