Partners Family Services has announced details of its second annual Community Rising Gala.
The event takes place on June 10 and will include Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a presentation to high school students, and a gala. The presentation and gala will feature keynote speaker, Amanda Lindhout.
On 2007, Albertan Amanda Lindhout began her journalism career with a trip to Afghanistan. Not one to go into things lightly, she then continued on to Iraq and then Somalia in 2008.
It’s in Somalia where she gained fame when she and a photojournalist named Nigel Brennan were kidnapped by Islamic insurgents and ultimately held captive for 460 days, enduring beatings and rapes and kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time. She was finally released when her family managed to raise the million dollar ransom.
In 2013, she released her memoir, A House in the Sky, recounting her time in captivity. Since her return, she has become the executive director of the Global Enrichment Foundation, which creates opportunities in Somalia by offering university scholarships to women.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a charitable event where men collect pledges and then don high-heeled shoes to walk one mile. The purpose is to raise awareness about sexualized violence against women.
More details will be released as the day approaches.
