You may have seen in our weekly newsletter that A Faith That Does Justice volunteer, Christina McNichol, is running the San Francisco Half Marathon on our behalf on July 28. But who exactly is Christina? In today’s Volunteer Spotlight, we sat down with the runner turned volunteer to learn more about her work with A Faith That Does Justice and how her training is going for her big run next month.
How did you become involved with A Faith That Does Justice?
I have been going to Saint Cecilia for 7 years and I heard Father Peter speak about the work he is doing. I could tell by his homilies that his beliefs about the Catholic faith align with mine so when I was running my last marathon, I decided I wanted to raise money for the organization. I recently became more involved as a volunteer and am fundraising for them again.
How many half and full marathons have you run and how is your training going for this one?
I’ve run 2 full marathons and 11 half marathons. I’m running the San Francisco Half with my stepmom and little sister, so this race is about spending time with them, not about how fast I run. But my training is going well. I am a morning runner so it’s always nice to run this time of year because it’s light out early.
What is the first thing you are going to do after you finish the race?
Normally, we have a plan for where to get food so I’m sure we’ll eat a big meal together, especially since we’ll be in San Francisco. My first half was in Philly, which I’ve now done multiple times. There is a sandwich I had there and now I always want it at the end of a race.
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in New Mexico. I came to Boston because I wanted to move to the east coast. I visited Boston once when I worked at a summer camp and I really liked it, so I decided to look for a job here.
What do you do?
I teach math at Excel High School in Boston. I used to work at Cristo Rey, a Catholic school in Boston for low-income students.
What would you tell others who might be interested in volunteering for A Faith That Does Justice?
For me, since transitioning from teaching at a Catholic school, I felt a need to be involved in something faith-based, but it was important to me to find an organization whose work aligns with the needs I see around Boston. The recent Community Meeting, Poverty and Income Inequality in Boston: A Tale of Two Cities, I thought was incredibly important. That is an issue that was really striking to me when I moved here. You can live in one part of the city and never realize another exists. A Faith That Does Justice is trying to make people aware of that.
Tell us a little known fact about yourself.
I am a huge Green Bay Packers fan.