The Pace for Peace “Run for Afghanistan” drew Boise residents of all ages to Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday. The run, organized by the youth-led initiative Pace for Peace (P4P), took participants through Ester Simplot and Quinn’s Pond and aimed to raise money for Afghans under Taliban rule.
“I was always looking for a sense of community, so I felt like I found a little bit of that through these organizers,” said participant Gogio Casanova.
P4P is currently run by a group of university students and young professionals. One of the organizers, America Tellez Coria, a senior and Political Science major at Boise State, described running the event as a “full-time job”.
“It’s like a school club… except we make no money off it,” said Coria, “It’s all volunteer.”
The run kicked off at 3:30 p.m. and over 300 participants departed Veterans Memorial Park, some equipped with strollers, bikes and even dogs.
Runners completed the route around 4:00 p.m., where they were then greeted with an inflatable arch and several ecstatic P4P volunteers cheering them on.
The main coordinator for the event was Sayed Edmirbacha, a Boise State student majoring in Social Studies. Edmirbacha explained his school studies correlate with the goal of P4P, which is to build community with refugees and locals while bringing attention to global humanitarian issues.
“We started Pace for Peace last year with a group of my friends,” said Edmirbacha. “Some of them were interested in a healthy life, running and being outdoors, and then we also had the passion and interest of helping and advocating for global issues.”
The “Run for Afghanistan” was the third event held by P4P. The nonprofit’s first race raised $8,000 for a refugee camp in Congo, followed by a second race that raised $12,000 for the Refugee Resettlement Agency and the Qamar Foundation. The Run for Afghanistan raised at least $7,000 for earthquake relief for New Americans.
Coria explained P4P sends their funds to the Qamar Foundation, an organization based in the U.K. that provides food, supplies and medicine to Afghan communities in need.
Coria explained P4P saw a need to help the people of Afghanistan, but were hesitant to give money to “a government that we don’t agree with”. They were able to connect with the Qamar Foundation through Edmirbacha, who’s seen their work firsthand, being that he’s from Afghanistan.
“They have no financial ties to the Afghan government whatsoever,” said Coria. “And they’re actually doing work over there.”
Coria explained that the Qamar Foundation sends P4P photos from Afghanistan, which is how they obtained “devastating” photos of the massive earthquake that occurred in Jalalabad on August 31, 2025.
While their original plan was to raise money solely to donate to Afghan education, the new information regarding the earthquake inspired them to donate 60% of their money to support victims and people affected, still reserving the remaining 40% for education.
“The earthquake is just awful…and I feel for those people,” said participant Benjamin Stolzfus. “I’m excited to come and be with the community to run for a cause I care about.”
Though no specific planning has been put into effect yet, Edmirbacha hopes to increase participation in the next run to 500 people.
“Usually it’s a group of full-time students,” Edmirbacha said in regards to the P4P volunteers. “[We’re] hoping to get more young people from the community to join us and join the movement.”
For those wanting to get involved, Edmirbacha suggests people contact them through their Instagram handle @The Pace for Peace “Run for Afghanistan” drew Boise residents of all ages to Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday. The run, organized by the youth-led initiative Pace for Peace (P4P), took participants through Ester Simplot and Quinn’s Pond and aimed to raise money for Afghans under Taliban rule.
“I was always looking for a sense of community, so I felt like I found a little bit of that through these organizers,” said participant Gogio Casanova.
P4P is currently run by a group of university students and young professionals. One of the organizers, America Tellez Coria, a senior and Political Science major at Boise State, described running the event as a “full-time job”.
“It’s like a school club… except we make no money off it,” said Coria, “It’s all volunteer.”
The run kicked off at 3:30 p.m. and over 300 participants departed Veterans Memorial Park, some equipped with strollers, bikes and even dogs.
Runners completed the route around 4:00 p.m., where they were then greeted with an inflatable arch and several ecstatic P4P volunteers cheering them on.
The main coordinator for the event was Sayed Edmirbacha, a Boise State student majoring in Social Studies. Edmirbacha explained his school studies correlate with the goal of P4P, which is to build community with refugees and locals while bringing attention to global humanitarian issues.
“We started Pace for Peace last year with a group of my friends,” said Edmirbacha. “Some of them were interested in a healthy life, running and being outdoors, and then we also had the passion and interest of helping and advocating for global issues.”
The “Run for Afghanistan” was the third event held by P4P. The nonprofit’s first race raised $8,000 for a refugee camp in Congo, followed by a second race that raised $12,000 for the Refugee Resettlement Agency and the Qamar Foundation. The Run for Afghanistan raised at least $7,000 for earthquake relief for New Americans.
Coria explained P4P sends their funds to the Qamar Foundation, an organization based in the U.K. that provides food, supplies and medicine to Afghan communities in need.
Coria explained P4P saw a need to help the people of Afghanistan, but were hesitant to give money to “a government that we don’t agree with”. They were able to connect with the Qamar Foundation through Edmirbacha, who’s seen their work firsthand, being that he’s from Afghanistan.
“They have no financial ties to the Afghan government whatsoever,” said Coria. “And they’re actually doing work over there.”
Coria explained that the Qamar Foundation sends P4P photos from Afghanistan, which is how they obtained “devastating” photos of the massive earthquake that occurred in Jalalabad on August 31, 2025.
While their original plan was to raise money solely to donate to Afghan education, the new information regarding the earthquake inspired them to donate 60% of their money to support victims and people affected, still reserving the remaining 40% for education.
“The earthquake is just awful…and I feel for those people,” said participant Benjamin Stolzfus. “I’m excited to come and be with the community to run for a cause I care about.”
Though no specific planning has been put into effect yet, Edmirbacha hopes to increase participation in the next run to 500 people.
“Usually it’s a group of full-time students,” Edmirbacha said in regards to the P4P volunteers. “[We’re] hoping to get more young people from the community to join us and join the movement.”
For those wanting to get involved, Edmirbacha suggests people contact them through their Instagram account @pace4peace5k.
