Mr. Garcia runs the NYC Marathon!

It’s Fall 2021. Three years ago I suffered a devastating knee injury during a pick-up basketball game. It was a freak accident—taking place in less than the blink of an eye.

It turned out to be a fully torn ACL, a partially torn MCL and meniscus, and two bone fractures. Full reconstructive knee surgery and up to a year of physical rehabilitation awaited me. Around the same time, I was just one week removed from a meeting with my employer at the time, and the haunting “You’re not what we have planned for the future” conversation was still fresh. Surgery, physical therapy, and searching for a new job? The phrase “learning how to walk again” took on a whole new meaning.

But thanks my family (especially my wife!) and a few close friends (including the awesome staff at HSS!), the journey to get back on my feet was possible. By Summer of 2022, I was off the crutches and, for the first time in 8 years, working somewhere new. I consider myself blessed to have received the medical care and attention I did. The Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School family welcomed me with open arms. More importantly for me, my vision for creating more opportunity and scholarship for students from historically disenfranchised backgrounds was met with reciprocal energy and passion.

By Spring of 2023, I was scheduled to run the New York City Half-Marathon—my first long distance run in over 2 years and a test of my rehabilitation efforts. I was testing myself, but I also wanted to show my [new] students that life is about resiliency. When life knocks you down, how do you pick yourself up? I completed the NYC Half in near record (PR) pace, and we ended up raising just over $13,000, with all proceeds going to advancing the Cristo Rey Brooklyn mission. Someone once told me the running community is contagious—you never know who you’ll inspire. Perhaps one of the greatest unintended results of this journey has been inspiring my father to pick up a love for running!

It’s Fall 2024. I’ll be running the full NYC Marathon for the first time—alongside my father! When I think about the journey since Fall 2021, I am grateful for the resources—financial and human—that have allowed me to recover. I have resources to tap into, and I am blessed to be in that position. I have a family to lean on, I can literally run alongside my father, I have a work and professional community that supports my vision for equity and inclusion. So this time around, as I put myself to the test again, I’ll be raising funds for three organizations that have inspired me in 2024:

Cristo Rey Brooklyn Corporate Work Study Program - For my students: life is all about how you bounce back—even when you think something is unfair or unwarranted!

Heal Palestine - For the dozens of thousands of children who have suffered incalculable loss. For an entire generation of young people that will need the world’s care and attention.

The Council of Urban Professionals - To the organization that has not only reminded me of my professional worth but also validated my vision for creating a more just and equitable educational environment.

Last year we raised just over $13,000. The goal this time around is 26.2 miles and $26,200…let’s do this!!