Hastings College hosts second-annual Miles for Mik

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - There are a number of ways people can honor their loved ones, and for one family decided an annual run is the perfect tribute. Casey Molifua is a physical education teacher at Hastings College whose sister, Mikelah lost her battle with orarion cancer June 26, 2020.

Every hour, Casey lead a group one mile around Heartwell Park, hence the name ‘Miles for Mik.’ It’s all to help to fundraise for the Mikaelah Daneen Molifua Memorial Scholarship. Casey said what his sister went through was hard and running a mile each hour embodies the struggle.

“So we wanted to do something that was outside of our comfort zone,’ said Casey. “My sister, when she was going through her treatments, I mean she was going through the struggle but she was still, she was a full time coach, when she was going through chemotherapy and so she would go to chemo and go right into coaching. So we wanted to embody something that represented her.”

The scholarship goes to a student athlete at Hastings College, they are awarded up to $2,000 each year they attend the school. Casey said this event is a reflection of his sister’s values.

“It just embodies everything that she believes in you know,” Casey said. “She really believed in community, she really believed in hard work and doing something that’s like hard, and doing hard work is things that we can do. So this is just a good reminder of just who she is and the spirit that she resonated when she was here.”

Casey said if his sister was alive, she would be running right along side him. But it’s the little things about Mikaelah that’s in her family’s heart.

“I think the thing that for me it just like the music that we like to share,” Casey said. “Whether it be Polynesian music, whether it be old school rap music, whether it be 2000 hip hop, Mariah Carey, she loved her Mariah Carey. Music was one of the ways that like still stays in my heart.”

Casey said when he hears Mariah Carey on his playlist it’s a reminder that Mikaelah’s spirit is still with him. One family member described Mikaelah as a force of nature.

“Just making sure I always have a positive attitude because that’s the way she was,” said Dani Molifau, Mikaelah’s mother. “So I just try to be the best person that I can be everyday in hopes that I am half of the person that she was.”

Dani said Mikaelah was one of the most genuine and happy and personable people she’s ever known. Adding, she’s proud that Mikaelah is her daughter.

Miles for Mik takes place from April 21-22 from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.

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