This Sunday, five young woman are running to stop human trafficking – something each of them has survived.
The women, who have been training since March, are running in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon as part of the group charity challenge June 24.
Their charity of choice is Servants Anonymous Society (SAS), a Surrey-based organization that offers exploited women and youth a way off the street.
SAS operates residential homes and provides education and support, along with an addiction treatment program for women as young as 16.
Last year, the women ran 20 km with Will Rogers, the Cloverdale paramedic who's run, biked and swam hundreds of kms each summer to raise money for SAS. ("A Million Dollar Dream".)
Sunday is also the date Rogers sets out on the first leg of his 2012 Million Dollar Journey, swimming from Tsawwassen to Sturdies Bay on Galiano Island, a distance of 22 km.
He's passing the torch to the women who are running for SAS, who say they'll continue the Million Dollar Journey at the Nova Scotia Half Marathon every summer.
They want to raise enough money for SAS to operate for another year – $300,000.
"Remember, one of us being trafficked made the criminals who trafficked us that much in one year!" says one of the five women running in the Women of Value half-marathon team.
More than 80 per cent of SAS's year-to-year funding comes from individual donors.
To donate, visit www.vancouverhalf.com and donate to the Women of Value team.
For more information on SAS, visit www.sasurrey.ca. For more in Will Rogers' Million Dollar Journey, visit www.willrogers.ca.