Amy Banson has just completed a 112 day walk in Australia. This is her second long-distance walk for charity. Banson walked 4,000 km. She admits that she wore out five pairs of shoes during the walk. Her goal was to raise awareness about depression and mental illness.

Last year Banson walked from Brisbane to Canberra in memory of a friend, Clea Rose. Rose died at the Civic bus interchange in 2005.

Banson admitted that there were parts of the walk where she did not come into contact with anyone and she found it hard. Sleeping in the bush was also a challenge at times. Communication with the outside world also proved to be challenging at times.

“To be in the middle of nowhere for six weeks and to not have phone reception or a local phone booth or internet service and just, no way of contacting people or just having a chat with your friend or your Mum to make you feel good before you go to bed at night was a real challenge,” she said.

Source: ABC News

The “Save a Life” Community Walk will be held in San Diego, California on Sunday, October 28th. The walk is to raise awareness about teen suicide. It will be held at the Balboa Park. It is a 5k walk.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youths aged 15 through 24. For the 10 to 14 age range, it is the fourth leading cause of death. Funds raised from the walk will be used for suicide prevention programs and outreach in Southern California.

“It’s not much but it feels like it’s all we can do at this point,” said Dawn Miller. Miller lost a son to suicide at 27-years-old in 2005. “We can’t change history, as much as we would like. We don’t want anyone else to have to deal with the same thing and it seems like it’s impacted so many people even in our small community.”

Source: Idyllwild Town Crier

Team Heal Trauma has nine runners who are raising funds for programs for trauma survivors. They are running in the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th of this year. Their goal is to raise $10,000 for trauma education and advocacy. The team has runners from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Tennessee. Runners must raise a minimum of $500.

Helga West started Team Heal Trauma. She is the founder of Witness Justice, a non-profit organization which offers support and advoacy for violence and trauma survivors located in Frederick, MD. West was assulted in 1993 and left nearly paralyzed. She survived an attack while in a rental care close to Miami International Airport. She and her mother took a vacation to Florida and on the way to the airport she made a wrong turn and was approached by assailants. She was assaulted as her mother watched. She was a runner before her attack. She has run two marathons since then, the Marine Corps Marathon and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon held in San Diego, California.

“So much of the work we do is pretty serious,” West said. “Everything about the formation of the run has been so uplifting and so inspirational. It’s incredible how motivated people are and how committed they are.”

Source: The Fredrick News-Post Online

Families for Depression Awareness is a national nonprofit organization, helping families and friends recognize and cope with depressive disorders to get people well and prevent suicides.

For the first time, the organization is participating in the Tufts Health Plan 10K which will be on October 8, 2007 (Columbus Day) in Boston. There will be a walking team and a running team. The goal of the project is to increase awareness of depressive disorders and raise money for Families for Depression Awareness. Each runner or walker will get sponsors to raise funds for this great cause.

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On Saturday, August 4th Edwina Mattinson began a cycling journey that starts in Istanbul, Turkey and will end in Beijing, China. Mattinson is cycling a journey created by Tour d’Afrique Ltd., called The Silk Route. Tour d’Afrique is a Toronto, Canada company that creates destination cycling expeditions. In 2004 Mattinson and her husband cycled from Cairo to Cape-Town. “It was a huge confidence booster and made me realize anyone can do anything.”

The cycling journey Mattison is taking now will take 108 days in total and she will cycle 10,000 kilometres. Mattison is raising funds for two organizations: NOVA and Holly’s Room. NOVA offers palliative home care and cancer care and is located in Beaconsfield, Canada. Holly’s Room is a special project that furnishes the Montreal General Hospital’s psychiatry ward. The organization is named after the late Holly Nelson. Nelson was a close friend of Mattinson.

Source: The Chronicle