Children, adults, and seniors face hunger in every community across the country, including in our community. Do you know that 1 in 8 families in Massachusetts suffer from food insecurity today? The Wellesley Rotary Club has partnered with Mass Bay Community College and The Village Table in addressing the issue in an effort to provide both short-term assistance and long-term solutions. Food insecurity also exists among residents living in public housing and veterans. We want them and their families to know that there are resources to help them through these difficult times.
Dustin Gerstenfeld is running the Boston Marathon to support three Wellesley Rotary projects to end food insecurity. The Village Table feeds community members, the Mass Bay CC project feeds students facing food insecurity, and every year the Wellesley Rotary serves meals to Veterans at the New England Center for Veterans
Dustin is a recent New England transplant from Texas. He moved to Nashua, NH in Fall 2017 due to a job relocation. A naturalized Texan (meaning one who wasn’t born there but got there as soon as he could – an important distinction in Texas!), Dustin is a Business Analyst at MassBay Community College in Wellesley, MA who enjoys travel, exploring local history, and of course running. Since moving to New England, he has enjoyed exploring the area, tasting the local fare, and warming up to New England’s fascination with IPAs.
A novice runner, Dustin finds that running allows him to process and relax from the stresses of the day. It also allows him to explore new areas by foot. Dustin ran his first half marathon, the Cowtown Half Marathon in Fort Worth, TX in 2014 and found it to be an eye-opening experience where he “caught the bug” so to speak and found his passion for half marathons. He has completed 7 half marathons so far (many of them in New England) and ran his first full 26.2 journey last year at the Maine Marathon. Running the Boston Marathon has been a dream for him since starting his running journey and he is excited for the opportunity to run the race on behalf of the Wellesley Rotary Club abd it’s three Partners to fight Food Insecurity.
Follow Dustin’s Training and Road to Boston Journey on Instagram @DustinRuns
For Information on the Rotary Club of Wellesley.