As the trees begin dropping their leaves for fall and children pack their backpacks for the first few weeks of school, there’s another tradition that marks autumntime: the Journey for Hope.
This September, 12 teams participated in the annual fundraiser. Now in its fourth year, participants have raised over $20,000 in support of food security, a sum that will go even further due to matching funds accessed through Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
The Journey for Hope is a fundraiser where teams walk, bike or do other activities that their community loves to do. For example, Together in Motion and Song, a team from Victoria, BC, organized a hymn sing on September 18, followed by a walkathon. Patti Jackson, the team’s captain, shares, “Our Hymn Sing at Trinity Presbyterian Church began with a prayer from the interim moderator, then a hymn selected by our pianist, How Great Thou Art. We followed that with hymns selections by the audience. Interspersed with the singing, we shared impact stories from PWS&D and Gifts of Change and prayers for world peace. We shared goodies and fellowship after.
Cyclists and two pups joined our Saturday walk around the beautiful Esquimalt Gorge Park. We had folks from many churches: Knox (Sooke), Knox (Victoria), St. Andrew’s, Trinity and Saanich Peninsula, as well as a visitor from New Brunswick!”
The Journey for Hope is ultimately about partnership—people across Canada working together to plan local events, through which they raise funds toward our church’s work to ensure marginalized families in places like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Gaza, Guatemala, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan and Sudan have reliable access to nutritious food.
“We all agreed working together as a group brings us all closer together as we try to make a difference for our global family,” reflects Patti.
The Journey for Hope is just one way you can get involved to support PWS&D’s work. Keep the conversation going by hosting a PWS&D speaker at your Sunday morning service, or consider becoming a PWS&D Champion. Learn more at WeRespond.ca/get-involved.
If you have stories or photos from this year’s Journey for Hope, please email them to [email protected].
Banner Photo : Team Doon Dreamers
