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Scrolling briefly through my Facebook mini-feed this morning, I noticed, hiding in the midst of excessive baby pictures and stupid “share or you’ll die” shit, a little gem that a friend of mine had posted, tagging her friends who run and/or bike. She obviously did not tag me, because while I hike my ass around my downtown area in an attempt to shed some of the weekends’ indulgences, I’m more of an urban explorer than I am a “runner.” Anyway, since I pretend I “run,” I clicked on the link my friend had posted. The title was, “There’s An App That Donates To Your Favorite Charity Whenever You Exercise.” It sounded awesome and lovely but too simple to be true; so I read on.
Apparently, back in 2012, a New York lawyer by the name of Gene Gurkoff, a marathon runner and ironman (or “extreme workouter”, as I like to call them), launched the Charity Miles app. This Charity Miles app (which is free, mind you) allows the user to choose from one of over thirty charities. Runners and people who “run” (me) earn $0.25 per mile, and bikers earn $0.10 per mile.
This money is not coming directly from Gurkoff, though he sounds like a more financially sound attorney than myself. He has gotten corporations on board that are looking to market by giving back. According to the Bit Of News, each time you use the Charity Miles app while working out, you see which company is sponsoring your run or bike. The article also states that, to date, Charity Miles has over 100,000 active monthly users and has donated over one million dollars to charity.
This evening, since a little cool front has moved in and I can workout without heat stroke, I’m going to give this app a try. Maybe being able to help others by doing what my ass needs to be doing anyway will help me bitch a little less about hoofin’ it around town. Bravo, Mr. Gurkoff and all the supporting corporations. This sounds like a win for everyone. .
[via Bit Of News]
Image via Shutterstock
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McMagistrate
After stretching college out for 9 years, McMagistrate is now an attorney in her late-ish 20's who earned her title by embracing the stigma that accompanies a healthy partying habit. She enjoys showing off her sub-par golf game and pretending her impressive law school loan doesn't exist. You can likely find her on her patio, live-tweeting her wine binges, and concerning her neighbors.
@mcmagistrate
Willing to bet $50 to the charity of your choice to anyone who racks up more miles than me. #GameOn
#PhilanSHIBBist
Is it just for running/biking? I hate cardio with a passion but hit the weights 5-6 times a week and would like to get on board with this.
I tried it out. You get to select one of the 30 charities each time you open the app; so you can choose different ones each time, if you want to. There’s a .1 mile minimum. There doesn’t seem to be a pause button, but there also doesn’t seem to be any problem with just letting it run for awhile. I accidentally started it about 30 min. before I could leave the office, and it counted my few steps around there, also. It seems to work similar to the Nike running app, allowing for an indoor run option, as well. You might as well try it during any workout and see how it does. Operation Smiles got $0.876 from Johnson & Johnson today for my “run.” Pretty cool.