$12,636.00

Dear friends,

I am thrilled to let you know that I’m joining the Crossroads International Charity Challenge in Senegal in February 2025, and I would really appreciate your help!

As you likely already know, I am passionate about Crossroads' work to end poverty and advance equal rights for women and girls. As an educated white person born and raised in Canada, with an amazing support network of family and friends, I am aware of my privilege. The Charity Challenge is designed to raise funds for the vital and exceptional work Crossroads does, and to allow participants to see first-hand the impact of the organization's work.

As part of the Challenge, I have set the goals below for myself and would love your assistance in achieving any or all of them!

• To raise $7500 for Crossroads (I will be covering all expenses related to my trip.)
• To let 75 people know about Crossroads and share information about global poverty and inequality, and
• To complete the trek in the itinerary (made up of smaller treks of up to 6 hours in one day).

You can help with the first objective by making a donation to my fundraiser on this page. Your contribution, no matter the amount, will make a real difference and support valuable programs to provide counselling and leadership skills for vulnerable women and girls, build their economic empowerment and advocate for equality with local governments. Together, we can create lasting, positive change for entire communities.

You can help with the second by checking out Crossroads' website at www.cintl.org, (the 2023 annual report gives a good overview of the organization and impact), by reading below to learn more about global poverty and inequality gaps, and/or by sharing about my trip/Crossroads International/global poverty and inequality with others.

You can help with the third by joining me for an impromptu walk before February!

I am excited about the opportunity to visit a couple of Crossroads' projects - one supporting women in agriculture and another improving health realities and providing health education to adolescents. Some of the disparities they aim to address are:

• The average years of schooling for women in Canada is 14 compared to between 1 and 5 for the countries in which Crossroads works (vs 14 and 3 to 6 for men)
• 100 of every 1000 girls aged 15 to 19 gave birth in sub-Saharan Africa in 2021 compared to 7 in Canada
• 0.25% of the Canadian population lives in extreme poverty compared to between 10% and 45% in the countries in which Crossroads works

The partner organizations with whom we work are knowledgeable, experienced and skilled. Their contributions, alongside those of Crossroads adept volunteers and staff, are having a notable impact in the areas shared above. Thank you for supporting me and making a difference!

Yours very sincerely,

Geralyn

P.S. Links below for items in my message above:

• ​Agriculture project: https://cintl.org/stories/farmer-field-school-is-empowering-farmers-to-adapt-to-a-changing-climate/
• Health project: https://cintl.org/damcam-landing/
• Years of schooling: https://ourworldindata.org/global-education AND https://ourworldindata.org/global-education
• Young mothers: https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/regions/sub-saharan-africa AND https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/economies/canada
• Extreme poverty: https://ourworldindata.org/poverty