Walking for Asylum Seekers & Impoverished School Children

Colleen is doing a walkathon on Saturday, August 2nd on the Las Vegas Strip to raise money for two groups this year. All money raised will be split evenly.

TO DONATE:

You can either donate a flat amount, or pledge a certain amount based on how many miles I manage to walk. If you're pledging based on miles walked, please fill out the Google form found here: https://forms.gle/1fYa8cKtcVi7WiABA. You can input your phone number or email address to get updates on my progress/mile count throughout the day! If you want updates, but are just donating a flat amount, you can put $0 for your pledge on this form.

1. Half of the money will help the family from Venezuela who Rico Riveria (a friend) has welcomed in his home for many months.

Edixon, Alejandra, and their children are fleeing violence in Venezuela.

The family's car being torched in Venezuela.

They have an immigration hearing scheduled this summer and still needs help with the attorney fees. They also would need funds for new living arrangements as they are still housed by our brother, Rico. When family was traveling through the jungle in Panama, much of their asylum evidence was lost in the Darien Rivera. Consequently, a considerable amount of resources was spent to retrieve documentation from Venezuela.

The Family

2. The other half of the money is for children who need school uniforms. Benjamin Saenz, OFS has been in touch

with Minh Solorzano, the Principal at San Xavier Mission School located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation near Tuscon, AZ. The Tohono Reservation is one of the poorest areas in the United States with over 40% of the population living below the poverty line. As of 2020, less than 7% of the population had managed to complete a college education. The San Xavier Mission School offers tuition-free education for students in grades K-8 and relies on donations in order to provide for it's students. The school buys the uniforms from VIVA PIMA! a Tucson Nonprofit that supports schools. Our donation would help purchase uniforms for the children.

Please note that while the Reservation is part of the Baboquivari Unified School District, the public schools there have consistently failed to meet the needs of their students with only 6% of students testing at or above proficient in reading and 2% testing at or above proficient at math. The San Xavier Mission is attempting to offer a free, effective, alternative to families in the area seeking to ensure their children can receive a good education with the school ranking in the top 20% of private schools in Arizona.