Mikel Lovina is family to the NVC family. A brother and son who died too young, his family honors his memory on his birthday every year with a fun run, encouraging each other to clock kilometers that they then translate into donations for NVC’s projects. Now, Mikel lives through people who own boats, sewing machines, new homes, pedicabs and tricycles, because his family has embraced our mission with total support. Over the years, even strangers have started participating, running on their own and showing proof of how long they’ve run.
For 2020, the Lovina family pledged to donate 1 Mingo Meal to a Taal evacuee for kilometer run in Mikel’s name. People from all over the Philippines and as far as Singapore, the UAE, and the US put together a total of 10,036 kilometers!
Video courtesy of Ines Santiago, Mikel’s sister and the organizer of the yearly event
A pedicab named after Mikel, which the family donated two years ago to provide driver Ronnie Serdica livelihood, joined and finished a 9-kilometer run from the town of Murcia to Bacolod City. Ronnie wanted to give back to the Lovina family: to parents Nony and Isa, and to sister Ines, the brains behind the successful Mikel Lovina Jamborun. With the might of Ronnie’s legs, the Mikel pedicab cycled along with the runners from the NVC family. Through Ronnie, Mikel continues to move through this earth, not just once a year when the world runs for a cause in his name but by day, when the pedicab moves to feed Ronnie’s family and provide his children education.