May peace be upon you all!

My name is Shaaden Salem and, God willing, I will be completing my first marathon race (Sunday October 7^th) during the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. I started training for it in April.

I did the math... I chose my fundraising goal to be $4,220. A marathon is 42.2km. That means $100 per kilometer. So that’s 10 cents per meter. That is roughly 3 cents per step. If all you can do is fund one step, then do it. Because EVERY step counts. I have to take around 126,000 steps.

But of course, before you donate, you need to know where your money is going. Here is some information to help convince you to take that next step.

*It is important to note that I won’t be using any of your donations for my own travel, registration, accommodation or anything of the sort. This is a fundraiser for the Indigenous community.*

As a Canadian, I feel so blessed to be able to call Mohkinstsis (also known as Calgary) home. I live in a beautiful city, in a beautiful province, in such a beautiful country. Thus, I feel I have a duty to do something to help the people who have called this land home way before me and my family, but still have to fight for their rights. After all the trauma they have been through, access to clean water, missing and murdered Indigenous women are some issues the community still faces.

         “For decades, high level government inquiries, federal audits and international bodies have repeatedly and consistently pointed to an unacceptable gap between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in the enjoyment of basic human rights.” – Amnesty Canada

It is also important as a non-Indigenous person, to listen to the needs of the Indigenous community and to help out with what THEY tell us they need help with. Therefore, I chose the charity organization Islamic Relief Canada. The organization makes sure to support projects that the Indigenous community have brought forth. Islamic Relief Canada also has the lowest admin costs in Canada with 3.6% of donations going towards admin. Here is the information that I was given about the important Mama-We project that was brought forth by the volunteer-based not for profit organization,  I Love First Peoples. https://www.ilovefirstpeoples.ca/

As an organization, it is I Love First Peoples’ strong belief that the mental and physical health of women is a key pillar to the health of the community she lives in. Currently, there is a comparatively high rate of teenage pregnancies in many Indigenous communities across Canada. A consequence of this is an increased rate of school drop-outs, isolation and also inaccessibility to acquiring suitable employment. Providing young mothers an easy transition to motherhood along with accessibility to completing their education is key for the security of theirs and their child’s mental and physical health. This has, and currently is, an important need that is presently not being met by other organizations and is desired by the community. This is why Mama-We was designed.

As a program, Mama-We is divided into 3 phases. The first one aims to target the gaps in education pertaining to maternal health and wellness, the second aims to ease their transition into motherhood with items delivered in a form of a package and the third aims to implement systems within the communities that will help young mothers go back to school or start a micro-business in a way to secure her and her families future.

Spread the word! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell a stranger! Together, let’s make a difference! One step at a time...

Thank you so much! God bless you all!

Warm regards,

Shaaden Salem