I'm planning to ride 100 miles over the six highest mountain gaps in north GA to raise money to support refugee women and children who've been resettled in Atlanta and I need your help.

No, you don't have to run behind and push me as I struggle to get over the mountains you just need to make a donation and maybe spread the word.

BACKGROUND

Forced from her home country, a refugee woman starts a journey that few of us can truly imagine. With only those family members she could gather--and rarely anything more, a refugee woman is a survivor. She has overcome the traumas of war, of refugee camps, of loss, and she is now fighting for a better life her family. She becomes our neighbor, a member of our community, and she is building a new, safe life for her family....one footstep at a time.

On the last Saturday in September I'll take a journey of my own -- riding (or at least attempting to ride) 100 miles and climbing the six highest mountain gaps in north Georgia -- in an attempt to raise $2,500 in support of Refugee Family Services (RFS).

RFS supports the efforts of refugee women and children to achieve self-sufficiency in the United States by providing education and economic opportunity. I serve on the Board of Directors of RFS.

Thousands of refugees have resettled in the metro Atlanta area since the first wave of Vietnamese came in the 1980’s. Today’s refugees come from a myriad of cultures suffering the effects of protracted civil wars and massive human suffering: Bosnians, Somalis, Sudanese, Liberians, Burmese, Burundi, Vietnamese, Arabic and Kurdish-speaking Iraqis, and Meskhetian Turks. Women and children are often left out of services, primarily employment placement, provided for male refugees.

During the past year, RFS served approximately 2,500 refugee/immigrant women and children in the metro-Atlanta area. RFS provides critical human services, youth programs, health services, education programs and domestic violence prevention programs.

Will you help? I'm donating $1,000 this year. Help me raise $2,500 to help refugee women and children adjust to their new home in Atlanta.