The Gift: raising $200,000 and climbing
The Cause: Plan Canada
The Reason: To support the Because I am a Girl campaign
A couple of years ago a friend told skier Jennifer Heil about Plan Canada, an international development agency once known as Foster Parents Plan. Ms. Heil was intrigued.
"One thing led to the next and I found myself on my way to Burkina Faso to see the work that Plan did," Ms. Heil recalled from Spruce Grove, Alta..
Ms. Heil went across the West African country for 10 days in 2008 accompanied by a Plan Canada official. They visited dozens of schools and met hundreds of students supported by a unique Plan program called Because I am a Girl. The effort targets girls in developing countries, giving them the resources they need to attend school. That can range from paying for school fees and lunches to buying a bicycle. Girls in Africa "are often the last to have any sort of opportunity," Ms. Heil said.
She recalled asking one group of students about their dreams for the future. "The hands shot up so fast in that room and then they started calling out 'doctors,' 'lawyers,' " she said. "One little girl said now she has the opportunity to be a full citizen of tomorrow. To me that was such a striking moment to realize how these girls lives were being changed."
Ms. Heil is now heading a fundraising campaign for Because I am a Girl and hopes to raise $1-million. In February, she donated the $25,000 bonus she received for winning a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics and her sponsors have kicked in more, bringing the total to nearly $200,000 so far. She plans to tour Canadian schools this spring to talk about the program.
"I dreamed of being an Olympian since I was nine years old," she said. "Of course it was a big dream and a big goal, but it was possible because of the opportunities I had and because of the people around me. I just think that educating a girl [in Africa] it puts that same power back into their hands so that they have control of their future."
Paul Waldie