Toronto to Buffalo fundraiser walk for the YMCA Sprott House

On Friday, September 23rd I will be walking 125 kilometres from Toronto, Ontario to Buffalo, New York to raise funds for YMCA’s Sprott House, Canada’s first transitional housing program for LGBTQ2SA youth.

Located in Toronto, Sprott House provides semi-independent housing, counselling and other support for LGBTQ2SA youth between the ages of 16 and 24.

Why should you sponsor my 25 hour-long walk for Sprott House?

•  On any given night, 400 LGBTQ2SA youth are homeless in Toronto. That total represents 20 percent of the city’s homeless youth, and 8 percent overall.

•  Research shows that LGBTQ2SA youth are more likely to be homeless in part because of rejection by their friends and family after coming out, and can lack the support network they need.

• Often subjected to hate and violence, LGBTQ2SA youth avoid shelters for fear of being attacked because of their sexual identity. Sprott House exists as a safe haven for them.

• Sprott House is staffed by people from the LGBTQ community.

This walk is an official YMCA-approved event. All donations will go to Sprott House.

I’m personally covering all costs associated with the walk, and will additionally donate a dollar for every kilometre I walk.

There’s no correlation between the route and the cause…I just figured I’d use the walk as a means to convert my physical movement into social movement, and raise funds for a good cause.

Thanks in advance for your donations and/or help in spreading the word.

You can learn more about Sprott House HERE. And, if you’re interested in virtually joining along, I’ll be sharing real-time photos from the walk itself starting Friday, September 23rd via my Instagram account HERE. Thanks, Ben Pobjoy