Amanda Gracia and Samantha Ruth turned a walking side quest into a fun, viral journey for a good cause.
The two long-term friends walked half of Line 1 last year and went viral on social media. This year, they decided to walk the entirety of Line 2, a whopping 30 kilometres.
Ruth, 26, who works in marketing, already volunteers with Out of the Cold Foundation (OOTC) — a community organization that provides shelter, food and clothing to those in need. Gracia, 24, works as a dietitian and jumped at the opportunity to help her friend help those in need. So, on Saturday, Sept. 5, the two hit the road with an extra pair of shoes hanging on their back — just in case — with the goal of raising $1,000 for Out of the Cold. As of Sept. 9, they raised nearly double of that.
The experience has been nothing short of an opportunity for friendship, growth and fun. Both Gracia and Ruth say they’ve learnt about how far they can push themselves to help others.
In this Changemakers Q&A, they share the lessons they’ve learnt about marketing and perseverance, and how others can get involved and make a difference too.
In Gracia’s words, “Just do it. Nike.”
Why did you choose to walk and document your journey rather than just ask people to donate?
Ruth: I can’t turn off my marketing brain. I’m just a marketing girly.
When it comes to having a goal, whether that’s selling something or fundraising, it’s hard to do it without an interesting supplementary thing. Like it’s hard to just be like, ‘“oh, cool, I’m raising money for the food bank.” No one will care. But then, when you package it as like, “okay, we’re walking Line 2 TTC,” I think people tend to care more and that draws interest [and people are] like, “why are you crazy enough to do that? What’s the point of this?” We got a lot of those questions.
Walking Line 2 also meant that we were exposed to amenities in different parts of Toronto. And you can see where the more affluent neighbourhoods are and then, the neighborhoods that are a little more…not loved, I would say, by the city. That also opened our eyes to what kind of people need help, what kind of areas and what the differences are.
Also we both just like walking. Like that’s the simple answer, really.
Gracia: I think also walking the TTC line specifically, to me, is so very Toronto. If you need a hook, that’s that — that’s it right there. It’s so very Toronto to be on the TTC, to take the TTC, to complain about it, to say “oh, I’d rather walk it than take the TTC.”
For someone who cares about food insecurity, but doesn’t really know where to start, what’s one thing that they can realistically do in their own community?
Ruth: Out of the Cold is looking for volunteers. We’re trying to break our costs down by cooking in-house, so I know we’re looking for people who can do kitchen prep work. There are so many food banks in Toronto that just need the volunteering help.
Last summer, I realized that a lot of people didn’t have access to cold water, which isn’t something I think about, because I can just open my fridge and get my Brita. Like, sure we have tap water, but cold water is such a privilege, because for the unhoused, for the precariously housed, you don’t have access to a fridge. And so I started carrying around cold, small water bottles.
You have no idea how much people light up, because not only is water a necessity, but you went the extra step into making sure it’s cold. And that’s like, that’s kind of just the human connection of it.
Start off with finding what the people need, but then also try to go the extra step to do what would make them feel more human.
Gracia: In a more theoretical sense, I think having or improving your awareness as to what food insecurity itself means is important as well. I think when we think about food insecurity, we think about people not having enough food, period. But I think food insecurity also exists in the nuance, as in not having a variety of nourishing foods to fulfill a balanced diet.
So that in itself constitutes food insecurity as well and not being able to access culturally appropriate foods, too. So those things all come into play when it comes to food insecurity.
What did you learn about one another and yourselves?
Ruth: I think something that I learned about myself that I’m really proud of is how much I can push myself for the betterment of others. I don’t think I would’ve done this for funsies, like we did Finch to Union last year. I really chose to push myself this year with that 30 km, because I knew it was for my neighbours, for my people, and that really kept me going. And knowing that people actually made donations really pushed me to finish through this mission.
Something I learned about Amanda is that she’s down for anything, apparently.
Gracia: Something I learned about Sam is that she’s my ride or die.
I was telling Sam on our walk — because I think when you get kind of delirious, you’ll say anything — “I really can’t imagine doing this with anybody else but you. Because I don’t know anybody else who would go above and beyond to reach out to so many different publications in the name of raising awareness for what we’re doing.”
How can people support your work?
Ruth: I do want to shine a light on OOTC and the fact that our donation link is still going to be open till Sept. 20. And that OOTC is looking for volunteers.
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