JR Sandadi’s running journey goes beyond his personal quest to complete all six major marathons.

The Carmel resident runs to raise funds to enroll students in Brightlane Learning, where he volunteers as a tutor.

Sandadi finished the Berlin Marathon Sept. 24, the fifth of the six major marathons he has completed. He previously ran in New York City in 2018, Chicago in 2019, Boston in 2021 and London in 2022. He plans to compete in Tokyo in 2025.

After being nominated by Brightlane Learning, Sandadi was chosen to receive one of the 2023 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award at the 40th Annual Indiana Philanthropy Awards, which is set for noon Nov. 15 at Indiana Roof Ballroom.

“I didn’t even know I was nominated until they told me after it was awarded,” he said.

Sandadi said the initial goal this year was raising $5,000 for Brightlane, which addresses the problem of childhood homelessness and housing insecurity with education.

“That got reached in a week, then we bumped up to $8,000 and that got finished in two weeks, so we thought we would bump it up further,” he said.

As of Oct. 4, Sandadi has raised more than $9,000 of his $10,000 goal for Brightlane.

In 2022, Sandadi raised $7,300 for Brightlane. In 2021, Sandadi raised money for Project Hope.

“Over the last four years, I’ve raised around $40,000 for these various organizations from me running these various marathons,” Sandadi said.

Sandadi said Brightlane was started in 2001 by Sally Bindley, who tutored inner-city children in Indianapolis with her friends.

“Last year alone, they served 768 students with 12,864 tutoring sessions,” said Sandadi, who started volunteering with Brightlane in 2017.

The sessions were held by 214 tutors.

“We help them with their homework, their reading and math skills, whatever help they need,” Sandadi said.

To contribute, visit give.brightlanelearning.org/fundraiser/4869894