The Dalton Hope Foundation backs widows across Africa as they rebuild — with the capital, training, and confidence to start a business of their own. Our runners cover the distance; you can cover the cost.
When a husband dies, a widow's income, home, and standing in her community are often the first things she loses too. The Dalton Hope Foundation exists to help her get them back on her own terms — not through charity that ends the day it's given, but through the tools to build something that lasts.
We fund small-business start-up grants, basic bookkeeping and trade training, and a support network of other widows doing the same thing. Every fundraising mile our runners log goes toward that work.
These aren't abstract numbers — they're the reason this foundation exists. A few things research keeps finding:
African women over 14 have been widowed at some point in their lives — and the true share who experience it eventually is far higher.
of African women are living in widowhood by age 80, compared with a small fraction of men — widowhood in Africa falls overwhelmingly on women.
is the reality for many widows under customary inheritance law, which in some communities treats a widow as a dependent to be cared for rather than an owner with a right to inherit.
customary marriages — common across the continent — leave many widows unable to prove they were even married, making it easier for in-laws to seize the home and property.
of the world's extreme poor live in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that holds only 16% of the world's population — and widows are among the most exposed within it.
of people across many African countries report going without cash income, medical care, or enough food at least once in the past year — losing a husband's income makes that gap harder to close.
Sources: World Bank Group ("Invisible and Excluded," "The Shock of Widowhood"), Human Rights Watch ("You Will Get Nothing" — Zimbabwe), Afrobarometer (2025), World Bank Poverty & Inequality Platform.
Dalton founded The Dalton Hope Foundation in his early 30s after seeing firsthand how quickly a widow can lose everything — her income, her home, her standing — when she loses her husband. He now runs long-distance races to raise the start-up capital that widows across Africa use to launch their own businesses, treating every mile as a direct line between his effort and someone else's fresh start.
Scan the code or copy the address below to send Bitcoin directly. Every donation goes toward business grants and training for widows supported by our runners.
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