Surrey BCAS paramedic Will Rogers started his 3rd Annual million dollar journey, ultra triathlon, in support of the Servants Anonymous Society in the Lower Interior of BC. The trek began Saturday July 3, with a 22 kilometre swim from Sturdies Bay to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen.

Then on July 17 and 18 he biked from Victoria to Penticton finishing at Gyro Park. On August 10 he began a 500 kilometre run from Victoria to Penticton finishing on the 27th of August at the Penticton trade and convention center. Will set an ambitious goal of signing up 10,000 people to donate 20 dollars a month for 24 months. After taxes this works out to 33 cents a day. This financial commitment could keep the charity operating indefinitely.

The facts are quite startling; one girl on the streets can cost the social system 40 to 50 thousand dollars a year, and can earn up to $250,000 for her pimp (money that feeds other criminal enterprises and most pimps have more than one girl working for them). The cost of supporting one girl through SAS is approximately $12,000 and $13,000 a year. Through the support of SAS, women and girls who have worked on the street are provided with assistance to turn their lives around and many go on to lead normal lives, find other employment and become home owners.

SAS currently has 15 girls in their program, but have the capacity to support 150 with more resources. Under the present structure, when a working girl makes the decision to change her life for the better she is put on a waiting list to join the program, not a great option.

With a population of 250,000 in Surrey and 2 million in the Lower Mainland, there is no reason that a goal of 10,000 new donors can not be reached. If you are interested in donating to this very worthy cause, please visit www.willrogers.ca​ for more information and to download a donation card that can be sent in to SAS.