The project has already raised over a quarter of its target €1,000 through the local crowd-funding platform
Onlookers will be forgiven for doing a double-take on 13 March, when they may spot a tall pink figure zooming past.
But they needn't worry - because this is likely to be Murphy, the BRND WGN mascot who will be taking to the University Ring Road to raise money for Hospice Malta, as part of this year's anticipated BRND WGN and University Ring Road Races.
In fact, Murphy has already started his fund-raising efforts and has launched a crowd-funding page on ZAAR, Malta's new crowd-funding platform. Murphy has set his online target to €1,000 and he needs the help of the online community to reach it. Visitors are thus invited to click onto the Murphy runs for Hospice Malta page on Zaar.com.mt to learn more about the project and cause.
The history of the University Ring Road Race actually dates back to the early 1980s. The fittest students would demonstrate their prowess by running around the University Ring Road and it quickly became a competitive event that was eagerly looked-forward to year-on-year.
The Malta University Holding Company Ltd (MUHC) reintroduced the event in 2013 and, this year it is being held in conjunction with local branding company BRND WGN. This year's edition promises to be the biggest to date, with lots of entertainment, prizes and goodie bags on the day. As in previous editions, half the proceeds will be donated to Hospice Malta.
In fact, the company's mascot, Murphy, will actually be taking part in the race, in the hope that it will raise even more funds for Hospice Malta.
"Murphy will definitely take the concept of 'running for a cause' to the next level," says Hannah Pace, from the MUHC. "The sight of a person in a pink morph suit running around is bound to catch people's eye! As always, we hope to raise as much money as we can."
In fact, the MUHC have chosen to raise funds through local crowd-funding platform ZAAR so as to give people the opportunity to donate conveniently online. ZAAR is a project spearheaded by the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives (FPEI), which was set up jointly by the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) and the University of Malta (UoM).
"We like the idea that ZAAR is locally-owned and its effective website structure caught our eye," continues Ms Pace. "Although there are many international crowd funding options, we wanted to create a funding page that was accessible to the residents of Malta, and foreign ones often aren't. With more consumers turning to e-commerce every day, we believe it's a necessity to have some form of crowd-funding platform locally and ZAAR has certainly provided that."
The Murphy Project has set the bar quite low, with a target of just €1,000. "But we hope to raise much more than that," says Ms Pace, adding that the first 20 people to donate €30 or more will receive a jam-packed goodie bag.
"The goodie bag is a great incentive, but I hope people will understand that the reward for this initiative will come from having supported Hospice Malta, which does such sterling work related to helping families cope with the difficult and distressing issues that arise in the face of serious illness. We really hope that people will give generously and help Murphy to reach, or better yet exceed, his target!"
Check out the crowd-funding video, which is live on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3y__H21IEY
Readers are also invited to visit http://www.zaar.com.mt/projects/murphy-runs-for-hospice-malta/ or to like the ZAAR page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/zaar.com.mt).