May 25, 2008 Toronto, Canada The World Partnership Walk is Canada's largest annual event dedicated to increasing awareness and raising funds to fight global poverty and is an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), a not-for-profit, non-denominational Canadian charity. Now in its 24th year, the Walk takes place in nine cities across Canada and has raised over $40 million. The Walk attracts tens of thousands of Canadians in a united effort to bring greater peace, prosperity and stability to the developing world. 100% of all the funds raised go directly to programs aimed at improving health care and education, enhancing rural development and strengthening community-based organizations in some of the poorest parts of Africa and Asia; while zero funds raised are spent on administration.
Having recently returned from a volunteer assignment in Afghanistan and Pakistan with the Aga Khan Development Network, the parent institution of the AKFC, I have directly witnessed the impact of the contributions made by Canadians in changing the lives of thousands in the developing world in the areas of social and economic development. In particular, young girls in Afghanistan now have the opportunity to return to school and seek out an education, and in Pakistan, orphaned girls who had no hope were given opportunities to develop their skills by working in an environment which provided them with confidence and courage to aspire to become bright and talented individuals succeeding in society. In other examples, families living in rural communities now have access to clean drinking water, micro-finance, steady electricity and employment opportunities. Without your contributions, there would be no hope for people living in these regions and almost no opportunity to improve their lot.
At this year's walk which took place on May 25th, a group of Salesforce.com employees formed a team, raised funds and participated in the Walk with over 7,000 other Torontonians. The team included: Charles Chung, Jeanette Lind, Rebecca Jacot, Eran Agrios, Salima Ladha and of course Dublin - our star walker!
A special thank you to the participants and donors for helping to make a difference - one step at a time.
