By Stacy Parker
Correspondent
OCEANFRONT
Ingeborg "Inge" Thieleman is a runner, but she's been spending evenings walking door to door in her Thoroughgood neighborhood.
Thieleman has been asking friends and neighbors to support her run in the Baltimore Half-Marathon Saturday by making a donation to the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center.
"I'm doing it for a really good cause, for people who need it," she said.
Thieleman moved to the United States from Germany 12 years ago. She has been running in organized events for years and usually selects a charity to support each time.
In 2003, she raised $900 for the outreach center when she ran in the Rock 'N' Roll Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach. She has collected donations totaling several thousand dollars for other shelters and medical relief efforts, too, in past years.
At Thanksgiving and Christmas, Thieleman brought her children to the outreach center's dining hall, 1053 Virginia Beach Blvd., to help serve meals to guests. Meals are served every day of the year and residents of the shelter attend substance abuse and metal health counseling and job training.
A single mother of three, Thieleman was moved by the experience.
"It is one of the best community centers we have in Virginia Beach," she said. "They really do help the people, help them get back on their feet."
Thieleman, 40, works at Westminster-Canterbury. After her eight-hour work day, she knocks on doors for about four hours, she said, asking for donations for the outreach center programs. She has raised about $1,800 so far.
"I think it's wonderful that an individual like her raises this money," said Dick Powell, the outreach center's executive director.
Powell provided a letter for Thieleman to present to people about her fundraising effort and announced it in the shelter's fall newsletter.
The center is about to kick off a fund drive for its preschool at 1900 Baltic Ave., with its Dream Maker's Gala Oct. 26 at the Wyndham Hotel.
Judeo-Christian Outreach Oceanfront Preschool provides free programs for at-risk 4-year-olds. The drive will continue through March, when the shelter celebrates its 23rd anniversary.
To support Inge Thieleman's run in the Baltimore Half-Marathon, mail donations to the JCOC, P.O. Box 831, Virginia Beach, Va. 23451
Stacy Parker, stacyparker@cox.net
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