Making a Difference

Five years ago, Margaret Hahn along with members of Omaha, Nebraska’s Omaha Yoga School, created the Hike to Help Refugees to support the refugee cause and life-saving work of the UN Refugee Agency by raising funds for refugees from some of the most war-torn regions in the world.As shelter is often the primary need of refugees, Hike to Help Refugees has used the funds to provide all-season tents, which serve as homes and classrooms for refugees in places like Afghanistan and Darfur.The first hike, held in May 2003, had fourteen supporters hiking along the Wabash Trace Nature Trail, a historic sixty-three mile resurfaced railroad route running through Blanchard, Missouri to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Using a sponsorship model to raise funds, hikers garnered $4,352 to provide tents for refugees.
This year, the group held five hikes: three in Iowa, one in Wisconsin and one in Nebraska. Each hike is unique, incorporating different aspects including musical performances, refugee film nights, media appearances, auctions, and community festivals. Since the hike's inception in 2003, it has raised over $65,000 to support refugees, with more than 300 hikers participating in the program--100% of the funds go directly to the shelter needs of refugee populations. Now, coming into its fifth year, the Hike to Help Refugees is the largest grassroots fundraising campaign supporting the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the United States.

For information or to start a Hike in your area, please visit http://www.hiketohelprefugees.org/.

A refugee’s road can be very long…take steps to make it shorter.