My passion for a cause started when I was sixteen and volunteering at a hospital in St. Anthony, Newfoundland, a remote fishing village on the northern tip of the Canadian province. The hospital was home for 20 or so children from the outlying islands who were brought there to recover from chronic diseases, usually tuberculosis. They were there for months. I was there for the summer, to amuse and distract them from the tedium.
One of the first days on the job, I came into the toddler ward and found a new patient, a two-year-old covered in bruises and crying with pain. In my efforts to comfort him I was told not to touch him, he had leukemia, and even a gentle hug would cause bruising. Several days later I returned to the ward and found the crib stripped of bedclothes, a not so subtle indication that the patient was gone, in this case gone forever.
My cause became even more powerful through my own medical journey—my fight with breast cancer—and amplified by the many friends and family who themselves had been touched by the evil disease. But it was the global magnitude of the problem that stunned me. I met a woman at the 2006 International Breast Cancer Summit in Budapest who told me that the only treatment for women with breast cancer in her home country of Uganda was morphine, and that was only for the lucky ones.
So how do we do a better job of living in the world and improving lives? How do we ensure that we have impact and truly make a difference? At JourneyGives we believe in the power of one and the dynamic force of many. And we’re here to provide the tools to help you drive your cause forward.
Tell us your 501(c)(3) nonprofit (or the foreign equivalent) and every dollar you raise, through every step you take, will go directly to supporting that nonprofit. Our goal is social profit—not dollar profit—and to truly make a difference.
Ready to go? Hope so!
Founder Rebecca Gray
Lyme, New Hampshire
We hope you’ll join us. Here’s how:
When you join a Giving Journeys expedition we’ll set you up with fundraising page on our nonprofit sister site, JourneyGives.org, where you’ll be able to raise dollars to support something you’re deeply passionate about —finding a cure, protecting the environment, alleviating poverty, recovering from a natural disaster, improving education. You name it. Your journey. Your cause.
Here’s how it works:
First, select your journey and register for it:
Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb 2018
January 23, 2018 – January 24, 2018
Basque Coast Trekking 2019
May 21, 2019 – May 30, 2019
Western Alaska Fly Fishing 2018
July 31, 2018 – August 11, 2018
and
August 7, 2018 – August 18, 2018
With the payment of your journey’s registration fee you’ll also be registered on the JourneyGives fundraising site:
You’ll receive an email giving you access to your own peer-to-peer fundraising page which you can further customize (sample here)
You will be able to indicate your choice of a nonprofit cause — or causes — where all donations by you and your supporters will be directed.
Since ourGiving Journey trips are fundraisers we ask that as a participant you pledge an initial amount you feel comfortable raising for your cause.