Donate now to support Mary Beth's Camino walk to build a school in Maras, Peru!

From Mary Beth Leisen

I'm going to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, an ancient, 500-mile pilgrimage trail from the French Pyrenees across northern Spain to the church of Santiago and on to the ocean. I'm doing this as a spiritual journey to slow down, reflect, connect with the earth and other people, and to understand and share the wisdom that such an experience brings. I'll be journaling along the way and sharing photos that I'll post to my Facebook page.

As you may know, I travel to the Peruvian Andes every year and consider it my spiritual home. I want to dedicate my 500-mile walk to this community that is dedicated to making connection, love, and community a way of life – and that opens its heart to me. ARI is building their new Global Headquarters, a community and educational center in Maras, Peru, and when I saw it in May, I was blown away! The center will host classes for adults, as well as primary school education for 90 students. It will have gardens for the villagers to grow their own food, indoor and outdoor community space, and volunteer quarters. It will also preserve the cultural and spiritual traditions of these wonderful people so they are preserved and cherished.

My goal is to inspire enough people with my 500-mile walk that I raise $10,000
to build a classroom in ARI's new Global Headquarters in Maras, Peru, and
$20,000 would fund the entire school!
It's a wonderful, worthy cause, and I've seen the good they do.

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For your donation, here's what I will do for you

The Camino de Santiago is a 500-mile walking meditation. I will depart on August 31st, and I will carry not only my backpack but also my intentions and prayers for the safety, peace, and wellbeing of my family, friends, communities, the larger world - and specifically for you when you donate to my Camino Campaign. To find out more about ARI and the great work they're doing, please visit their page here.

For your financial support of this new classroom in ARI's headquarters in Peru, I will carry your prayers, intentions, hopes and dreams with me, too – and pray for them every day. Because I'm carrying everything I need on my back, I'll have to do so in a creative – and very light – way.

I am incredibly grateful for any amount you choose to donate, as every dollar will help build a center that supports an entire community. But my goal is to build a classroom - and ideally the entire school! To reach that goal, I am offering some incentives, and, in old-school walkathon style, framed them in terms of what they mean in miles:

$25 – 5 cents a mile | Daily prayer list
I will add your name to my daily prayer list and include your intentions every day of the walk.

$50 – 10 cents a mile | Ribbon of Prayers
I will add your name to my daily prayer list to include your intentions, and I will also attach a ribbon on my backpack that holds your prayers every step of the journey.

We can do this two ways – you can send me a ribbon or I can create one for you:

• Send me a ribbon
You can put your intentions into a 6-inch ribbon** (cloth, not paper - it will rain) and send it to me at 2060 West Hutchinson Street, #2, Chicago, IL 60618.

NOTE If you elect to send me a ribbon, I must receive your ribbon by August 26, 2018 to ensure it gets to me in time.

** You can put your intentions or prayers into the ribbon in the following ways: praying or meditating over it, using your breath to blow them into the ribbon, keeping the ribbon in a sacred place for a time, or bringing the ribbon to a religious ceremony.

• I will make your ribbon
Alternately, you can send me your intentions by email (mbleisen@gmail.com) or text (312-952-9007), and I will transfer your prayers into a ribbon and carry it for you.

$100 – 20 cents a mile | Dedicated Day to You
In addition to carrying your intentions on my daily prayer list and in a ribbon of prayers, I will also dedicate a day of the walk to you and your prayers and intentions. I will let you know which day of my walk this will be and the approximate week so you can join in and super-charge those intentions. I will also post photos so that you can see what happened on that day. (Please note that internet access is not universal on the Camino, so there may be some delays on postings - but I will definitely be honoring your day!)

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Two more easy ways to help

• Corporate Matching
Your donation is tax deductible and is eligible for matching funds for companies that offer this benefit. This is an easy way to double your donation.

• Spread the News
Please share this donation post and link to your friends and family. The more people who donate, the closer we will get to building a school.

If I raise $10,000, it will fund the construction of a classroom.

If I raise $20,000, it'll fund the school!

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Last, and certainly not least, I also welcome your prayers, good wishes, and love for me and for my safety and good health on this journey.

Let's do this TOGETHER!

– Mary Beth

Did you miss my departure date? You can still donate!!

When my goal is met, I will make an offering to honor all the donors and your name will be included in the prayers!