Miami Woman Runs for Holocaust Survivors

MIAMI — When Rachel Adler Schapiro takes her place in the Miami Half Marathon on Sunday, she'll not only be running for herself but for hundreds of Holocaust survivors in the Miami area.

"I have a very strong connection to the Holocaust," she told Patch. "My mother’s side of the family escaped from Germany in the late 1930s. My grandfather was taken on Kristallnacht and was able to get out and their family was able to get to Switzerland."

Schapiro, who turned 30 earlier this week, said she wanted to celebrate her birthday by entering Sunday's half marathon and helping people at the same time.

She will keep her family's struggle in mind and the daily struggle of Holocaust survivors as she makes her way through the 13.1-mile course.

“I think about the survivors who are living in our community and the struggles that they are going through today to survive, that every dollar I’m raising is going to go to help them and create a better life and make them more comfortable in their old age."

She set up her own CrowdRise page, but there is also a crowdfunding page set up by JCS and The Blue Card for all of the runners on the team. Endurance events are one of the ways The Blue Card raises money with $1 million in donations having been collected since 2009 from events such as the Miami Marathon.

The charity helps 2,500 Holocaust survivors throughout the country and works with the JCS on other projects throughout the year.

For the Miami event, The Blue Card relies on JCS to evaluate Miami-Dade survivors for eligibility. About a third of all survivors live at, or below the poverty line, which makes it difficult to afford medical care, proper nutrition and basic necessities.

Izabella Safiyeva, senior program director with The Blue Card said that Schapiro and 20 other runners in the Miami event hope to raise $15,000.

"That money is earmarked for local survivors," she said. "We want to help survivors remain in their homes as long as possible."

She said that the youngest of the estimated 100,000 Holocaust survivors across the United States are now in their late 70s. "These are the younger ones who were either infants or just maybe a year or two at the onset of the war. Ages go up to 80s, 90s and beyond," according to Safiyeva, who said that this is the fifth year that the organization has sponsored runners in the Miami area.

"Every week or so we get thank you notes from Holocaust survivors telling us 'without your help I would not be able to hear well, because the hearing aide that I got from you guys helps me. It helps me even in my marriage.'"

She went on to explain that the note was from a man who could finally hear his wife when she spoke to him.

"Of course there are many other thank you notes that come to us from Holocaust survivors thanking us for dental care, for personal emergency response units, for food stipends, for rent assistance," she said. "The list goes on and on."

Schapiro's best time in the Miami half marathon is just under two hours.

While she has run the race five times, Schapiro said this year will be different since she now has a daughter, Sloan, who was born last year.

"I'm now a mother and if I can start showing example to my daughter and be able to combine my passion for philanthropy and my favorite hobby why not do both?"

To make a donation to Team Blue Card to support Miami-Dade Holocaust survivors, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/jcs-alliance-team-blue-cards-fundraiser-run-for-holocaust-survivors-in-miami.

Photos of Rachel Adler Schapiro and The Blue Team courtesy of Jewish Community Services of South Florida