As Haitians struggle to rebuild after the devastating earthquake that shook their nation in January 2010, one local man is taking a long run to raise awareness on the country's plight.
Sechelt resident Charles Streicker is currently organizing a run from the Earls Cove ferry terminal to Gibsons Landing. The 75-km trek will take place on Saturday, Oct. 8, starting at 4 a.m. with an estimated end time of 9 p.m. should participants walk the course.
Streicker, a member of the Sechelt Community Church, said the motivation came to him after attending a recent Sunday service.
"I'm doing it to raise more money for Haiti. God spoke to me and Haiti was where our church was donating to. After I went to church one Sunday, God said 'if you want to do it, do it now.' I didn't have a lot of time to pull it together, but it seems to be coming together pretty good. I've got a lot of volunteers and a lot of people raising money and it's totally cool," said Streicker.
The event has started to pick up steam for Streicker.
"We have six other people who are going to be walking, and three of them are doing 25 km and the other three the whole 75," he said.
More than $1,000 in donations have been collected so far, which Streicker is pleased with.
"God put it on my heart to see if we could raise money. We are trying to collect as much as we can obviously, but my goal is $10,000," added the 26-year old, who is adamant about transparency in his fundraising efforts. "One thing I want to make clear is that this is 100 per cent non-profit. This isn't for me to go Haiti. This is all going to the children."
The challenges the Haitians have endured both before and after the earthquake made an impact in Streciker and acted as an additional motivator.
"Haiti doesn't seem to be in the spotlight anymore. I know Japan has a pretty good economy. They could rebuild after their disaster. These people in Haiti had nothing before and they have even less now, if you can imagine that," he added.
As for the upcoming event, Streicker is looking forward to drumming up more donations, participants, and awareness. He also hopes to organize the event again.
"I would like to make this an annual thing. Any help on behalf of the community is greatly appreciated. I think it's important as a community to get everyone aware and everyone involved in something like this," he said.
For more information on the event or how to get involved call 604-740-6111 or e-mail [email protected].
