“Nothing like this had ever happened before,” said Lutheran Social Services Vice President and Development Director Christopher Beach during a recognition ceremony for Rumen Hulmequist on May 2. “We didn’t know what to make of it.” What happened was really out of the ordinary. St. Olaf member Rumen Hulmequist created a fundraiser for the International Adoption Program at Lutheran Social Services (LSS) called the “10,000 24 hour.” (Rumen was adopted through LSS from Bulgaria.)
Through a day of rigorous exercise at the YMCA in Marshall, MN last fall, and with the involvement of the Exercise Physiology staff and students at Southwest Minnesota State University, Rumen did 10,000 repetitions of push-ups, leg lifts and jumping jacks, and swam 10 miles in a 24 hour period. He raised a little over $7,000, shy of his $10,000 goal. Friend and St. Olaf member, Thomas Winston, coordinated the event. Rather than leave it at that, Rumen persisted in his fundraising (with help from his church St. Olaf and the Leos) and reached his goal last week, raising $10,228. When asked why he did it, Rumen said, “Gratitude. Gratitude to LSS and gratitude to God.”
Rumen, son of Dale Hulme and Sue Quist, is a Henry High graduate and just graduated this spring from Southwest Minnesota State University with a degree in Exercise Physiology. Rumen (pictured left) plans more fundraising projects in the future.