By Melanie Gonzalez, Managing Editor
(Honolulu)–HPU business student Martin Tobry ran for a noble cause in the 2012 Honolulu Marathon to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation Hawaii and 11-year-old, Skylar, who has lupus. Skylar’s (last name witheld to protect her identity) dream is to create a UV protection hat to raise awareness among keiki about sun safety. Skylar must wear a hat at all times including while indoors. Actually, her elementary school made a special uniform exception to allow her to wear a hat in class while following her stringent medical protocol. This got precocious Skylar thinking. What are the benefits of sun safety? How could she change its perception within our community and for kids everywhere? The answer was simple. As a result, her wish to create a fashionable, sun-safe hat and educate other keiki in Hawaii about the benefits of sun safety has become a real passion.
Martin is a German exchange student studying Business Psychology at the University of Applied Science Bielefeld (Germany), and while at HPU, he attended business courses and became a member of the Enactus team on campus. Skylar’s wish became the project of this entrepreneurial group in conjunction with Make-A-Wish Hawaii. Martin became involved with the marketing aspect of the project and challenged himself to contribute on a personal level to this magnificent cause. He felt that a marathon run with a sponsorship could help Skylar to achieve the realization of her wish.
Martin has participated in two other marathons but the 2012 Honolulu Marathon, which he finished on 3:05:27, was completed for more than just personal satisfaction. Although Martin is not from Hawaii he has been touched with the Aloha Spirit and began fundraising for Skylar’s dream. His goal was to earn $2,000. To date he has earned $970 of his goal but he is not giving up. “I have a strong will and want to achieve the $2,000 mark, I have put much effort into the realization of my idea and with my strong will and determination it will become reality” he stated.
The donation efforts for Skylar are ongoing through Make-A-Wish Hawaii at http://bit.ly/VoLOen. If you would like to make Skylar’s wish come true and educate our keiki about sun protection visit the page and make a donation.
