Thank you, Emily Craven – primary fundraiser for Fig City News summer internships!

On April 21, Emily Craven (NNHS ‘22) ran the 129th Boston Marathon to raise money for the third annual Fig City News summer internship program. Before the day of the Marathon, she had raised a total of $7530, exceeding her goal of $7500. This included proceeds from the five-kilometer “Shamrock” road race – twice around Jamaica Pond – that she organized to support the internship program.

Craven’s efforts provided 85% of the funding for this year’s Fig City News summer internship program – supporting five interns up to half-time for a majority of the summer.

Craven is currently a rising senior at the University of Vermont (UVM) and the director of philanthropy of her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. At UVM, every sorority has its own target for philanthropy— and Alpha Delta Pi’s is the Ronald McDonald house, an organization that houses families who have to travel out of state for their kids’ hospital care. As director, Craven plans and finalizes all events and decisions regarding philanthropy.

Craven began training for marathons in her sophomore year of high school through Dreamfar, a marathon training program for high schoolers. She first heard about Dreamfar through one of her best friends, and from there fell in love with running. Since events were canceled in her sophomore year due to the pandemic, she ran her first marathon in her senior year of high school. “I was going to try out for soccer, and told myself that if I don’t get in, I’ll try out for [Dreamfar],” she said, “And it ended up being the best thing that happened to me.”

At the same time, Craven was also the leader of the feminist club at Newton North High School, hosting fundraising events to assist organizations run by women. This inspired her to continue philanthropy in her sorority while in college, and she was drawn in by the opportunity with the position to organize dinners for the Ronald McDonald house. “I love helping people and fundraising,” she said, “And I really like planning events.”

Prior to planning the Fig City News “Shamrock” road race, Craven had organized a 5K race for her sorority, which was the first time she had connected her passions for running and philanthropy. That experience, she said, prepared her for organizing the Shamrock race. “Planning the [Shamrock] 5K was very much in my comfort zone,” she said, “I wanted to connect the local runners and let them know that I am also running the Boston Marathon for this nonprofit.” 

Craven’s twin loves for running and for fundraising inspired her to train for the Boston Marathon to support the internship program. She had already run six marathons, but not yet Boston. Since this was not her first time running a marathon, Craven could focus more on the fundraising aspect of the event. “It was definitely time-consuming, but it was very worth it,” she said. In any case, her training worked. “This was the fastest marathon I’ve run.”

In her fundraising for Fig City News, Craven spoke about the importance of expanding internship accessibility to high school students, a belief that stems from her own experience. In high school, she participated in the child development program at Newton North, working at Newton North’s preschool and interning at a kindergarten nearby. “A lot of people tend to think that internships start in college, but they are available even to high school students,” she said. “Fig City’s intern program supports young journalists and gives them an opportunity to get real field experience while providing them an outlet for their voices to be heard. It also means a lot to me to get to support a program that directly works with students from my hometown.”