After immersing themselves in running culture, Veeraj Bajaj, Park Higdon and Colston Book wanted to find a way to give back to their community.
The trio of varsity cross country runners at St. Mary’s Hall created SevaRun, a nonprofit organization. Their first 5K is on Sunday, April 26 at Lady Bird Johnson Park.
“We noticed that we have a lot more discipline, a lot more mental health, a lot more social health because we hang out with all of our friends and we have a really fun time,” Bajaj said. “We just appreciate all that running has given to us and it seemed almost like an obligation to help make running more accessible to more people.”
The plan is to save 100% of the proceeds raised from their first 5K toward their goal of purchasing running gear for disadvantaged youth.
“Children outgrow their sizes pretty fast, so that means they will definitely need to buy so many more shoes,” Higdon said. “San Antonio has quite a few ZIP codes below the poverty line, and this is exactly where we want to make a difference, to the children there.”
Part of the organization’s name, “Seva” — which means selfless service — is a core tenet of Bajaj’s religion, Sikhism. A few years ago, Bajaj’s sister Rabani created a nonprofit called Seva-Art, which encouraged students to donate art to benefit the San Antonio Food Bank.
“Our intent is selfless service to children in San Antonio by providing them with the gear to run,” Bajaj said.
“To us, selfless service means some form of integrity driven service. We don’t require anything in exchange,” Higdon said. “We’ve been volunteering for a really long time at the food bank, Haven for Hope and other organizations, and now we have started a nonprofit that can benefit the youth on a larger scale.”
It costs $10 to register for the SevaRun 5K and those ages 10 and under can register for the event’s “Kiddie Kilometer” for no cost. The group is also accepting donations on its website.
The students have secured sponsorships from H-E-B and Frost Bank, which will provide refreshments at the end of the race.
“We’re going to have some vendors at the park, and people can loiter about, maybe check out some vendors,” Bajaj said. “It’s just going to be kind of a show — we’ll play some music after the event, everyone gets a medal.”
After Sunday’s run, the group’s next step is buying shoes and running gear to donate, but they haven’t decided exactly where the gear will go. They are discussing potential partnerships with organizations and local schools.
Higdon said their goal is to help “300 children by the end of this event and 1,000 kids by the end of next year.”
Even before this year’s event, the sophomores plan to keep the run going every year. After they graduate from the private school, they plan to pass the organization on to their classmates.
“Our school has been very supportive and they’ve helped us advertise it during our Friday school-wide assembly, and they’ve let us put up posters around campus, and we’ve also had many faculty members and students sign up, with still so many more to come,” Higdon said.
“We have one of those T-shirt cannons we’re going to use at our next assembly,” Bajaj added.
Bajaj and Higdon said organizing the run meant countless early mornings speaking at local run clubs and hours of making calls and planning. But the trio had the support of their friends, family, coaches and community members.
For other teenagers wanting to get a project off the ground, the group’s advice is this:
“You need to be bold, and if you’re going to go for it, you have to go for it — you have to do it with your 100% effort.”
