Hiking to heal women at Rose Haven is what John Bianco set out to do when he decided to hike from Mexico to Oregon. Rose Haven is a sanctuary from the street. It is a place where women in Portland, Oregon go to experience compassion and obtain practical assistance when facing the loss of home, abuse or other disruptive experiences. It is a community, a safe place where women feel a sense of belonging both during and after their time of need.
John Bianco is a friend of Rose Haven. He set off on May 1 to hike from Mexico to Oregon in honor of the women at Rose Haven, and to raise funds to support them. John chose to support the day shelter by hiking, after witnessing its positive impact on women in the community and deciding that he could raise awareness about Rose Haven through a publicized quest. When he completes his hike in August, John will have hiked 1,727 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail and raised funds to help operate programs at Rose Haven. The Pacific Crest Trail runs from the border of Mexico and California to the border of Washington and British Columbia Canada.
John is calling the fundraiser P.E.A.C.E. (Power of Enthusiastic, Active, Compassionate Engagement). He is going to great heights to raise money for Rose Haven. He recently made it to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S. at a staggering 14,505 feet!
Hiking and healing through crowdfunding
To promote the fundraiser and encourage others to support Rose Haven, John created a page at Crowdrise, an online site that allows people to raise funds for special causes. John states his intentions for the hike at Crowdrise and asks people to donate $10 to Rose Haven. He asks every donor to ask their friends to also donate $10, and for those friends to ask their friends to donate $10. The idea is to grow the funds exponentially and raise $1 million by having 100,000 people each donate $10 to Rose Haven.
“Although this might sound overly optimistic and maybe a little absurd to some people, I believe TOGETHER we can raise one million dollars for Rose Haven,” John said.
You can support John’s cause by donating at Crowdrise or from the Rose Haven donate page. If you donate from the Rose Haven page, please note in the comment box “John’s Hike for Rose Haven.”
You can see more photos and follow John’s adventures along the Pacific Crest Trail at his Tumblr site.
Rose Haven is an affiliated ministry of the Good Shepherd Sisters in the Province of Mid-North America. Sr. Cathie Boerboom, RGS, founded the day shelter for women in 1997.
