Verona community supports World Partnership Walk

Julie Druker | Aug 05, 2015

Owners of the Verona Convenience and Greco Pizza on Road 38 in Verona, Anil and Azmina Velji, wish to thank the local Verona and area community for their support for a 10 kilometre fundraising walk the couple took part in in Ottawa on May 31.

The Veljis, who moved to Verona from Calgary in May 2014 and who have been participating in the World Partnership Walk Canada for over 20 years, were thrilled with the local support they received, which saw them raise close to $1,000 to help fight global poverty. “Being relatively new to the community, we were a bit nervous soliciting people for donations for the walk, but we were so thrilled with the warmth, support and generosity people showed us,” Azmina said when I interviewed her by phone earlier this week. “Not only were we able to spread awareness about the foundation and the good work they do, but we felt that the local community really trusted us, which has really meant a lot.”

This year was the 31st annual installment of the world-wide fundraising walk, which is run through the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), a non-profit development agency whose goal is to find sustainable solutions to ending global poverty by focusing on improvements to health, education, and rural development while also strengthening community organizations and educating new generation of girls and women in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The walk was started in 1985 in Vancouver when a small group of women, most of them immigrants from Asia and African countries, decided they wanted to raise funds to give back to the impoverished native communities they came from. They encouraged 1000 other walkers to join them and that first walk raised $55,000 in donations.

In just over 30 years since it began, the walk has raised over $90 million for international development programs and initiatives run through the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, and in 2014 close to 40,000 walkers in 10 Canadian cities took part, raising $7million. In addition to 100% of the donations going directly to the foundation, the donations also enable the foundation to leverage further donations from major sources like the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Currently AKFC funds more than 30 development initiatives in a dozen countries, which have been recognized by the Canadian government as having long-lasting positive effects.

In Azmina's words, the foundation “aims to show people living in poverty how to fish by giving them the tools they need instead of just giving them fish.” The Veljis strongly feel that they too are happy to support local area causes, thanks to the trust they have been shown by the community.

For more information about the Aga Khan Foundation Canada and the World Partnership Walk visit www.akfc.ca