Mikaela Moschella is looking forward to running her first marathon as a member of team Answer the Call. Mikaela has previously run two half marathons, one last year and one in March. Although she previously ran track in high school, she only began running as an adult in the past few years. Despite bad knees being common in her family, she hopes to be able to run for the rest of her life. Mikaela never would have thought she would be the person to run a full marathon, but when she saw that Answer the Call was one of the listed charities she knew that running in support of such a worthy cause would motivate her to take on this daunting challenge. Growing up in New York and having so much family in New York she knew that the NYC marathon would be the perfect first location for her.
Although she will be running solo during the marathon, she has been training with her boyfriend who has previously run a half marathon with her. Her mom has also been a huge supporter and encourages her in anything she does. In addition to her boyfriend and mom, her Aunt Nancy is also particularly supportive of her in this endeavor, as her husband, John Moschella, passed away in December 2018. Mikaela’s Uncle John served in the FDNY for nearly 30 years and passed away from 9/11 related cancer. Mikaela has also had other family members serve in the NYPD and FDNY, including her grandfather, all who could not be more supportive!
To all of the families that Answer the Call serves, Mikaela says, “I can only partially understand what you are going through from my uncle. My heart goes out to the families. I love that there is support for them so they can focus on healing without worrying as much about financial stability.” Mikaela is very proud to be supporting people that give their lives to keep everyone safe, particularly those that are serving in New York. She says, “Every service person across the world is really important, but it takes someone really special to do that in NYC, one of the biggest and craziest cities, with so much going on. It takes a very dedicated person. I respect and appreciate their work.”
If you would like to help support Mikaela’s fundraiser please click here!
This interview was conducted by Rosie Oates, 2020 Spring Development Intern.
