Ride Your Bike to Educate, Empower, End Stigma!

“The Village” - April 2012   Please join us in an exciting fundraising opportunity:   Village of Love Canada is one of 8 organisations participating in the AIDS Ride for Africa bike-a-thon organised by our partner CAP/AIDS.        TORONTO:  Sunday, June 17th, 10 am.   An easy 10km ride along the Lakeshore, with an after-ride barbecue in High Park. Meet like-minded people, enjoy fun exercise, bring the whole family, and RAISE FUNDS for orphaned children. Ride in the Village of Love Team!   OUR GOAL: At least 50 Riders; to raise $15,000    For information on how to register as a rider, go to RIDE.   Ride as an individual or participate as a family. Invite your friends to join you and form your own TEAM. Ride to break the cycle of poverty for orphaned children!   If you don’t ride a bike, please plan to sponsor one of our riders!    ME? A FUNDRAISER? I don’t think so! A message from the “Village of Love Canada” Coordinator: I know that some of you are thinking, “I’d LOVE to ride my bike, and have a fun morning in the park, BUT I’m not a fund raiser! I could never ASK someone for money!” What if you could ride your bike AND raise funds without the awkwardness of face to face asking? The way our fundraising works is very low key, relatively impersonal and unpressured. You just send a group e-mail to your contacts telling them that you’re riding to support AIDS orphans (they’ll be impressed! ). You offer them the opportunity to also support the cause by making an on-line donation (you’ll send them a link to your donor page). It’s as simple as that!  You know, it’s actually a gift to your friends to have this opportunity. I was certainly glad to be given the chance to help orphaned children, weren’t you? This BIKE-A-THON is a golden opportunity! Let’s make the most of it!   Linda You’ve been riding your bike to stay healthy and to save the planet by reducing your carbon footprint. Now you have the chance to……   Ride to Educate! Every day that a child is not in school is a day that child can contract HIV&AIDS, can become drug addicted or pregnant. Every day a child is on the streets is a day when that child may receive a life sentence of poverty. Orphaned children in the “Village of Love”  long to be in school. Their guardians, however, do not have the funds to pay for school fees or supplies. Ride to raise funds for orphaned children to be school! To find out more about education costs, click HERE     Ride to Empower! Poor families in “Village of Love” cannot provide nutritious food for their children. Sometimes they do not eat for several days. Many guardians have small businesses through which they eke out a living. A microloan through “Village of Love”  boosts a guardian’s income to be able to feed their children through their own enterprise.  Ride to empower guardians in providing for their families! To find our more click HERE.   Ride to End Stigma! There is still much ignorance today about HIV&AIDS. Sufferers are often ostracised and shunned.  Neighbours are often afraid to take in children whose parents have died of HIV&AIDS. Indeed children may suffer the double stigmatisation of being both orphaned and also affected by HIV&AIDS. Ride to end stigma!   Ride for the “Village of Love!”  Click on RIDE, and let the fundraising wheels begin to turn!   To receive regular facebook updates on the progress of our Ride for Orphans campaign, “like” our Facebook Page.   Please share with your friends and social networks this opportunity to ride for orphaned children! New! Now you can designate your Village of Love dollars specifically towards  “education.” When you make an online donation, there will be an “education” box to check. Whatever amount you donate, your dollars will contribute towards a child’s being in school. With your year-end tax deductible gift, orphaned children will have a chance at life!  Linda Levin, Coordinator of the Village of Love Canada

Support Us:      Connect with Us:      African Music Evening is  postponed.   We are looking forward to an exciting musical event in the future!   We will keep you posted. Mother Teresa: If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Thank you for being a Provider in the “Village of Love!”

Visit our Website: www.villageoflovecanada.org