For Kinslee Wesolowski’s 10th birthday, she told her mom her wish was to run a half marathon to raise money for children in Uganda.

Her birthday wish is coming true as she will run the 13.1-mile race Saturday in Lexington.

Kinslee said she wanted to use her gift to provide food for children in Uganda after hearing more about their needs from her aunt Amy Compston of Amy For Africa.

“My aunt is a missionary to Africa,” Kinslee said. “And she goes to Uganda, and there’s this place called the ghetto. And there’s a ton of kids that live on the streets, and they don’t get fed. So Amy goes and lets them get some food on Saturdays, and I’m raising money to help feed them.”

Kinslee heard stories about the children involved in the Amy For Africa ministry through her mother who served on an AFA mission team in December 2017. Danielle Wesolowski and her husband, Andy, have been generous supporters to AFA since it started.

Hearing those stories and seeing the photos from her mother’s trip to Uganda stirred Kinslee’s heart and called her to action. Danielle, who is also an accomplished long-distance runner, immediately said “yes” to her daughter’s request to run for the children in Uganda.

Danielle said she is proud of her daughter for having such a big heart and wanting to run this race.

“I’m just very thankful the Lord laid this on her heart,” Danielle said. “She came to me on her 10th birthday and told me this is what she wanted to do for her birthday. I’m thankful that she’s got a big heart and wants to help others. I’m very proud of her.”

AFA partners with Silent Whispers ministry every Saturday morning where 350 children are fed breakfast of a cup of porridge and a cookie biscuit. Kinslee’s goal is to raise $2,100 to provide breakfasts for nearly the rest of 2019. She has little more than $500 to reach her goal.

“I want to meet my goal because then that means they’ll have at least six months of food,” Kinslee said.

Anyone interested in donating can go to the donation area on amyforafrica.com and put Kinslee in the message portion after typing in a donation amount. Everything given goes to the project.

Kinslee, who is a fourth-grader at Conkwright Elementary School, has been running on the Clark County cross-country team for three years. Her longest distance so far has been eight miles, she said. Outside of running, Kinslee enjoys playing softball, spending time with her family and going to church.

She first got interested in running after seeing her mother take on half-marathons and marathons, and Kinslee said she wanted to experience the thrill as well.

“I thought it might be fun,” Kinslee said. “So I tried it. And I liked it. It just felt right for me.”

She runs five times a week between softball practices, and her mother is training her. They are up to about seven miles a day.

But the half marathon intimidates her, Kinslee said.

“I’m thinking about how many miles I’m going to run that makes me feel like I can’t do it,” she said.

However, running alongside her mother helps, she said. Kinslee said she would be happy when she finally crosses the finish line; her goal is to hit around two hours. She will be the youngest runner at the Horse Capital Marathon & Half Marathon

“I’ve told everybody at my school that I’m running this, and they’re like, how much is that and I’m like 13.1 miles, and they’re like, I would die at the first mile,” Kinslee said. “So I’m going to feel happy. And I’m going to be glad that I’ve done it because not many people can run a half marathon.”

Next year, Kinslee hopes to travel to Uganda to meet the children she helped.

“Mom keeps telling me ‘just think you’ll meet all these kids you’ve never even known and you’ll meet these kids that you’re running for and you didn’t even know them,’” Kinslee said.