Wild Ride 65 for 65 challenge continues!
Wild Ride 65 for 65 challenge continues!
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2024 more than 100 million people will be forcibly displaced or stateless – the highest number in history. Refugees often embark on dangerous journeys in pursuit of safety, and these journeys all-too-frequently meet a tragic end. According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, 3,105 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2023, the highest in six years.
This summer you are invited to join the third annual PWRDF Wild Ride as we embark on our 65 for 65 Challenge – raising $65,000 to mark PWRDF’s 65 years of supporting refugees and displaced people.
What began in 1958 with an outpouring of generosity to the community of Springhill, N.S., grieving after a mine disaster, grew into a demonstration of loving our neighbours around the world. The United Nations declared 1960 World Refugee Year. In response, The Primate’s World Relief Fund (the D for development was added in 1969), designated $100,000 of its donations to respond to refugees’ needs. It was more than half of all funds raised that year! Since then, PWRDF has supported refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout the world, including:
- Advocacy for Salvadoran refugees in Honduras and Guatemalan refugees in Mexico during Central America’s civil wars of the 1980s;
- Livelihood initiatives with Sri Lankan refugees who for decades have lived in camps in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu;
- Reproductive health and food security programs in the massive Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya;
- Health Clinics in Egypt for refugees from Syria, Sudan and South Sudan and elsewhere.
Today our partners are working to support refugees and internally displaced people in Gaza, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Jordan, Ukraine and more. In 2024 our goal is to raise $65,000 to mark our 65-year commitment to refugees and internally displaced people. The Wild Ride launched on World Refugee Day (June 20) and continues through to Thanksgiving, October 14. June 17, 2024 By Janice Biehn
I accepted the Wild Ride challenge. People from St. Paul’s Cathedral joined me for hosted walks along the Riverside Trail, Kamloops. Here we prayed for Refugees and Displaced People while following the labyrinth path. On August 25, Lynn Snook & I cycled from Kamloops to St. Peter’s Monte Creek (40 km) to raise awareness of the work of PWRDF and support for the Wild Ride. August 26, I cycled another 25km following the last year’s NorthShore Wild Ride route for the to complete my commitment of cycling 65Km for the 2024 Wild Ride.
Please, Join the Wild Ride 65 for 65 and put your $$stamp on it!
Click on this link DONATE WITH ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL WAY-SEEKERS
Register your own team and invite friends to support the Wild Ride.
or send a cheque (with designation towards the Wild Ride) to PWRDF ,80 Hayden Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2
Your support is greatly appreciated.
Submitted by Joy Gothard, PWRDF Diocesan representative.