This is the first in a series on one runner’s journey to complete the ING New York City Marathon this November. Haïtian-American Jonathan Eustache is running his first marathon, but he’s taking his steps even further by using the event as a way to raise awareness and money for his true homeland.

When Jonathan Eustache commits to something, he really puts his heart into it. His heart, as well as his might, will be put to the test when he runs the 26.2 miles across New York City’s five boroughs to complete his first full-length marathon on November 4th. Why does he do it?

“What motivates me to run,” he says, “is my health.” In 2008, at 250 lbs. Jonathan sought relief of the pain of herniated discs and his doctor told him he had two options: lose weight or have surgery. I wasn’t having surgery,” he says, “so I started running on my own, changed my diet and got down to 214 pounds.” But Jonathan is running for more than just health reasons. He is using the NYC marathon as a way to raise awareness and collect funds for Haïti, by partnering with Community2Community (C2C), a non-profit service organization dedicated to working with the community to build a self-sufficient Haïti. (The 2012 ING New York City Marathon is encouraging all of its marathoners to fund raise with the goal of raising “$1 million per mile” for charity.)

Jonathan’s ties to Haïti run deep. One of five children born and raised in Brooklyn to Christian Haïtian parents from the towns of Lazille and Cavallion,, his parents migrated to New York with the hope of achieving the American Dream in the mid 1960′s. ”My parents came from nothing and made something of it here without a college education,” he says. After settling in Brooklyn his parents dedicated themselves to assisting anyone they could to make the migration from Haïti to NYC, the city of dreams.

On January 10, 2012, the day of the earthquake in Haïti, Jonathan was at work at his job as a 911 dispatcher when the calls from family and friends started coming in. “I didn’t know how bad it was until I went to the break area at work and saw the images on TV. I called home. We had family there, cousins and aunts. Two days later I found out that a cousin and family friend of mine had passed in the earthquake. That time that was pretty horrific.” Following the model set by his parents, these losses led him to find ways of bringing awareness to people all over the world about Haïti’s plight and more importantly, how the nation can and will thrive.

Jonathan’s nature is a giving one. “I try to help out anyway I can,” he says. “My parents taught me to always help others and not to use the word can’t, because if I can’t someone else will.” Jonathan’s father worked as a doorman on Park Ave. in Manhattan and also moonlighted as a real estate investor and laundromat owner. His mother, who was trained as a nurse in Haïti, worked in a hospital in Brooklyn. After 20 years in Brooklyn, where they raised five children, they retired to Florida where they’ve been living for the past 20 years. “People think it can’t be done— but it can be done…with a lot of hard work and dedication. That’s why I work as hard as I can.” Jonathan served his country in a peace keeping war in Bosnia where he was honorably discharged. He credits his sense of duty (as well as time management) from his service in the military along with his parents’ persistence for being punctual.

This is the example he tries to set for his 17 year-old son Khalil, a high school junior (and cross-country runner) now living in Florida. To Jonathan, the American Dream means opportunity. But, he emphasizes, “Everything’s not given to you, you have to go out and get it, so I try to stress to him that education comes first. I’ll do anything I can to help him achieve his goals. ” Though his son considers himself American, Jonathan tries to instill in him, “you’re Haïtian before anything else, regardless of where you were born.”

What does Jonathan hope to experience at the finish line on November 4th? “Pure elation. Man! When I’m running I try not to think of anything. I try to be in a space where I’m free, where I can feel the footsteps and the pain, the throbbing hearts, the fruits of my labor. After 26 miles, that last mile will be great.” And for the people of Haïti, he will run with the strength of these words carrying him: “L’union fait la force”—as seen on the Haïtian flag—“where there is unity there is strength.”

“I wanted to come up with something individual, not just sign up for a group event. Something to bring more awareness. I’m always pitching to my friends, ‘you should do something.’ So I had to do it too.”