“Run for their Lives” sends messages to families of hostages held by Hamas
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Members of an interfaith group called "Run For Their Lives" walk along Shoreline Park in Santa Barbara every Sunday at 4 p.m.
Before heading out, they record a message saying "Run for their lives. Bring them home now. Santa Barbara, California."
"Every Sunday we upload the video, it goes to the families in Israel of all the hostages and it moves them beyond all merit, that they know people outside of Israel still care, and we do," said Ruscha Robbins.
The first group formed in Palo Alto, then hundreds followed.
"We just walk down shoreline, we come back up again, we have a banner, people stop and talk to us, we don't debate, we don't argue, we don't protest, we just want to keep the memory, so people know the hostages are still there and we are one of 230 groups around the world who do this every Sunday," said Robbins.
The action started on the hundredth day the hostages were held. Sunday marked day 506.
Many of the hostages ran for their lives on Oct. 7, 2023.
Some from the Nova Music Festival.
Elissa Jacobson said they are honoring 63 hostages believed to be in Gaza.
Together they read their names out loud.
They also recite the Mi Shebeirach. It is a prayer for healing and protection.
They also time their walk. They go for 18 minutes, a number symbolizing life and hope.
On the last Sunday in February they carried orange and blue helium balloons in memory of a mother and children who did not survive.
Although an orange balloon got stuck in a Freedom Tree, they do not release the balloons, but rather deliver them like flowers to people in the community.
Jacobson said people from all faiths are welcome to join them by the Freedom Trees.
Those are the trees dedicated in the 1970s to prisoners of war and those missing in action.
"It has been meaningful for us as a group, as much as it has been an action to raise awareness, it is also meaningful for us as a community to come together and pray and remember that we are all in this together," said Jacobson.
When asked if they believe more hostages will be released in the second phase of the fragile cease fire agreement Jacobson said, "Baruch Hashem, we have hope, hope is mandatory."
Group members said they are trying to be human rather than political, just human.
They plan to continue until all of the hostages are home.
For more information visit https://run4lives.org
