On October 24, Fo Guang Shan Christchurch and the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island held the third event of 2024 Global VegRun at Christchuch’s Te Komanawa Rowley School. Principal Graeme Norman led 220 students joyfully running towards a greener future.
This marked the first collaboration between the school and BLIA South Island for this fun run. Principal Graeme expressed strong support for the event. He believed that teaching students to care for the Earth and cherishing resources through running is an excellent educational approach. Leading teacher Nicole Rowse was thrilled to see students actively striving to “run for tree donations”, showcasing a spirit of love and care for the environment.
Members of the BLIA South Island were also present to cheer the students on. Representing the Minister-in-charge of FGS Christchurch, Venerable Juexi, BLIA South Island member Ricky Wang shared with the students the Global BLIA’s philosophy of caring for the Earth. He encouraged everyone to Do good deeds, Speak good words, and Think good Thoughts while running to protect the planet. Bookmarks and pencils were distributed to the participating students and small basketballs were presented to the school as tokens of friendship.
BLIA South Island has been actively promoting the Green Foundation’s Global VegRun. This year, two earlier runs took place on 18 and 20 September 2024 at Merrin Primary School and Hornby High School respectively. Nearly a total of a thousand students had participated in these 3 Charity Runs. This charity initiative is in response to the call of “You run, I plant a tree”. For every 5 kilometres run, BLIA South Island will sponsor one tree. To date, a total of 240 trees have been pledged.