And there will be 656 children in Malawi who will be better off for her efforts.
Lambert has taken up the with the , the international charity that provides a meal a day to children in schools in some of the world鱿鱼视频app most impoverished nations.
Lambert鱿鱼视频app beneficiary will be Habitat Primary School in Malawi. That鱿鱼视频app enough to provide a meal a day to the school鱿鱼视频app 656 children, many of whom would not be able to attend school without such support.
鈥淚鈥檓 turning 40, I鈥檝e been looking for a physical challenge to really motivate myself to go to the gym and I thought what a wonderful way to raise funds for Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals at the same time,鈥� said the Toronto resident and Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals volunteer.
Lambert will be relying on eight months of training, five days a week in the pool and Lake Ontario. She jokes that she must have been a fish in a previous life, 鈥渟o I鈥檝e always been quite comfortable in the water.鈥�
Still, she knows it鱿鱼视频app going to be a tough challenge. The cold waters of the Pacific (between 10 and 15 degrees), strong currents, waves and just generally rough waters around the island that housed the famous maximum security prison is intimidating. But she intends to embrace her new 鈥渘o fear鈥� philosophy in helping tackle the swim.
Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals is an organization that has grown close to her heart over the past few years. She discovered it a couple of years ago when her mother was in hospital. A family of voracious readers, Lambert went to the gift shop looking for something to share with her mother. She came upon The Shed That Fed a Million Children, the book by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and global chief executive of Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals. The book detailed MacFarlane-Barrow鱿鱼视频app journey that led to the creation of Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals, which now works in 17 nations around the world, feeding thousands of children.
The story of Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals and how it grew out of MacFarlane-Barrow鱿鱼视频app pilgrimage to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1983 both touched and fascinated Lambert and led her to investigate opportunities to help at home in Toronto. She鱿鱼视频app since hosted fundraisers for the organization and set out on this latest journey hoping to raise $10,500. She鱿鱼视频app reached about $7,000 in the weeks before her swim, mostly by hitting up family and friends for sponsorship. She has faith she will eventually meet her full target.
The Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals model of empowering local people was what really impressed Lambert.
鈥淭here are so many worthy causes, but the thing that differentiated Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals was that it is basically owned at the local level,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his approach really allows people locally to have a lot of say in how things proceed鈥�. With Mary鱿鱼视频app Meals, you know your money is not going to just go into admin fees. They have a model where the end recipient is receiving the funds.鈥�
The organization feeds into the social justice orientation of Lambert, who has a master鱿鱼视频app in social work and is director of business development for ISX, International Student Exchange. ISX hosts international students in Canada and the United States and customizes trips that allow the students to learn about our nations.
To donate to Lambert鱿鱼视频app effort, see .