Amanda Bassett is no stranger to pain. Over the past couple of years, she has endured blisters, a bloody ankle and aches and pains so deep to the core. But none of that matters when she crosses the finish line.

For the third straight year, Bassett is planning to run the LA Marathon on March 18 to raise funds for ChildSHARE, a charity that helps find homes for abused and neglected children. Since she began racing, she has raised more than $2,800.

The organization has found safe and loving homes for thousands of abused and abandoned children in Southern California since 1985. Two out of three foster children placed in a ChildSHARE home stay with the same family until they are reunited with relatives or adopted. Since 2002, one in three foster children in ChildSHARE homes are adopted, which is almost triple the national adoption rate. The charity is near and dear to Bassett.

“I grew up in an abusive, alcoholic, and emotionally unstable home,” said Bassett, who recently married. “I would pray every night that someone would come and take me away from all of this. In college I discovered ChildSHARE, an organization whose sole purpose is to help rescue kids like me.”

To gear up for the big day, Bassett walks and jogs. This past weekend alone, she logged 16 miles. Next weekend, she’ll pound the pavement for 18 miles and will build on that momentum by adding a couple more miles in the next two weekends.

“Last year for the second time I finished the LA Marathon,” she said. “The last 5 miles the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that I was making the life of a child better. I’m participating again in the LA Marathon on behalf of this special organization to find a confused and broken and hurting child a warm home and a family to belong to.”

For more information and to rally behind Amanda’s cause, visit http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/amanda-bellamy/la-marathon.