HAMILTON, Ontario–(CANADIAN CHRISTIAN NEWS SERVICE)–This Mother’s Day weekend, communities across Canada and the United States will once again host fundraising walks to improve maternal health in the developing world, where childbirth remains one of the leading causes of death among adolescent girls and women.
To date, concerned citizens in 13 communities have signed-up to join in. Additionally, walkers from around the globe can participate via the innovative netWALK.
Proceeds raised from each five kilometer Walk will go to Save the Mothers (STM), an international charitable organization (founded by Canadian Obstetrician Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese), which empowers East African leaders to improve standards and practices of health care for pregnant women in their communities.
“We walk because pregnant and laboring women around the globe often have great distances to walk to access medical care,” said STM Managing Director Dr. Daniel Scott. “In countries with little or poorly developed infrastructure, their footsteps are often futile. When health care institutions are too far away, ill-equipped or under staffed, women die.”
“Thousands of people participate in the Save the Mothers’ fundraising Walk each year to demonstrate they care about the 800 women who continue to die every day from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth,” he added.
This will be the fifth year for the annual event, proving that people do care, and that they can be inspired to give of their time, energies and money to make a difference.
Photo: Participating in a “Steps to Deliver Change Walk” is a fun, family-friendly way of showing we care about vulnerable women and children in the developing world. Photo courtesy of: Fotoreflection.com
Photo: All across North America, people walk to improve conditions for pregnant women in the developing world. Photo courtesy of: Save the Mothers
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For a list of Walk locations, visit Save the Mothers
For more information, contact:
Patricia Paddey, Communications Director
Email: ppaddey@savethemothers.org
Ph: 905-616-1326
Web: www.savethemothers.org