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Randolph's Lori Sperber gives hope to those in need
BY JILLIAN RISBERG
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
"How do you measure a year in the life — how about love?" This line from Broadway's "Rent" rings especially true for Lori Sperber of Randolph, whose love affair with running followed her first charity run in the New Jersey Marathon. She dedicated it to her late father, Milton Weiner, who died in 1985 from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
In 2007, she began Running on Love, a blog about her new passion, but Sperber says it quickly turned into something more.
"Two years later (I) filed for non-profit corporation (New Jersey 501c3) status so I can create a force of good will and impetus in helping others in need by organizing, and helping others organize charitable fundraising events, in support of noble and worthy causes."
According to Sperber, marathon running is a metaphor to life itself and Running on Love seemed a fitting name for her organization. Just as reaching the 20-mile marker in a marathon creates moments when we hit the wall and don't know how we can possibly take another step - the fuel that keeps us moving forward, she says, in a word is love.
She is currently seeking corporate sponsors and already has the backing of Gateway Creative Group, her marketing and advertising agency, as well as the Randolph Rotary Club and the 2010 NJ Marathon, which named her a beneficiary charity.
The benevolent Sperber has personally participated in four full marathons in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In November 2009, Running on Love had its first official charity run in Philadelphia on behalf of 16-year-old Taylor Buonadonna of Washington Township, who is battling osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer she was diagnosed with at age 13.
They are again preparing teams to run in the NJ Marathon on May 2 to assist The Taylor Buonadonna Fund, and assisting LLS in their mission to find a cure for blood cancers, Sperber says.
The marathon experience has been life-affirming for the president of Running on Love and it has changed her forever.
"The single most overwhelming feeling that I felt coming over that finish line was gratitude," Sperber says. "I simply put one foot in front of the other and asked a lot of kind and generous people to contribute to a great and worthy cause. The rewards I have received have been so much greater than I ever could have dreamed."
Different people benefit from Running on Love each occasion, though the goal remains the same and the cause comes from the heart. Sperber was recently asked to organize an event for an orphanage in Haiti and she hopes to finalize the details soon.
"What matters most is that we all run on love together to help as many people as we possibly can," she says. "No amount is ever considered small, and every donation is appreciated and goes to the cause of helping others."
To what does she attribute such motivation? Love, because people are surprised to find out that she is actually not much of a runner. Sperber says she is dreadfully slow but always reaches the finish line and no matter how painful the task, she manages to complete what she started.
We are all interconnected and for Sperber, there's no better feeling in the world than giving of herself in this way.
"My coach in the NJ marathon had it exactly correct," she says. "You don't give until it hurts; you give until it feels great. Your reward is simply that the more you give love, the more you feel love."
IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED
c/o Gateway Creative Group, Inc.
6 Emery Avenue, Suite 5
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 537-9300
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