RECOGNITION — Steubenville Second Ward Councilman Tracy McManamon, left, presented a resolution last week recognizing Joe Ciola and Elijah Schneir of the Franciscan University of Steubenville for raising money for Urban Mission by running for 24 hours. On hand for the presentation were Ciola; his girlfriend, Rachel Brake; Schneir and various teammates, coaches and athletic staff members as well as an Urban Mission representative. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — Urban Mission Ministries got a $3,500-plus boost recently from an unexpected source — two Franciscan University of Steubenville students who used their feet to raise money for the less fortunate.

Joe Ciola, a 2024 FUS graduate, and Elijah Schneir, a rising senior, completed a 24-hour run to raise money for Urban Mission’s program — Ciola logging 70 miles and Schneir, 81.

The Rev. Ashley Steele, executive director of the Urban Mission, said any donation “is a gift and goes directly toward our pantry or shelters.”

“Having Joe and his friend raise funds for us on their own means even more than the actual gift,” she said. “We just love when someone puts their heart and soul (and in this case, their feet) into helping others. It is inspiring to us and a good reminder that when each person uses their God-given gift to help others, the impact is multiplied tremendously.”

Urban Mission distributes more than 2 million pounds of food a year, she pointed out, adding the donation “will help us do just that.”

“We will use it to purchase food for our shelters and pantry,” Steele added. “For every $1 we raise in donations we can purchase $10 worth of food through Mid-Ohio Foodbank in Columbus.”

In 2023 she said they had 36,527 visits to Urban Mission’s food pantry.

Ciola said it wasn’t his first 24-hour run, though his first one — in 2023 — was just for fun. “I wanted to do it again this year, but with more of a purpose behind it,” he said earlier this week. A coach got him a tour of Urban Mission “and I kind of fell in love with their ambition and purpose, so I wanted to help them.”

He said he and Schneir had a week to fundraise, but managed to collect $3,500 at last count.

Schneir said he didn’t know he was going to run “until like a week before,” telling city council earlier this week it was “definitely very challenging, but together we struggled through it and accomplished our goal.”