Manuel's Ride Against Traffic Fundraiser Page

Dear Friends,
I will be taking part in a 550km bike ride which is aimed at raising awareness about the issue of ‘Sex Trafficking in Korea’, as well as raising funds to support orphans through scholarships for higher education. Our group of participants from various English ministries and churches in South Korea has set the goal of raising 500,000+ won ($500+ dollars) per participant. Any donation is welcome! Just $1--$100 (Korean: 1,000 won- 100,000 won) from enough individuals will help us reach and hopefully far exceed our fund raising goal. Please note that the donation amount is easily adjustable by simply typing in the number you would like to give.
The issue at hand is something I was not fully aware of before I came to Korea. Although sex trafficking exists all over the world, there are reports that “South Korea is one of the major sources of sex trafficking and smuggling to the United States according to the Attorney General’s Office (2006)”.
Our mission is dual fold: to raise awareness about this issue in Korea and to support a scholarship fund for orphans. We hope to achieve this by embarking upon a long journey with the goal of attracting media attention, public awareness, and support funds for the two causes. You can help us achieve our goal by making a donation of any amount. You can even choose to do so anonymously if you prefer.
They are many donation options available for supporters, please see our website and donate a small amount today.

For ‘House of Hope’: 100% would go towards the building and running of the aftercare center for trafficked peoples. 0% would go to salary or admin"

Regarding ‘Oak Tree Project’ "98% goes to the kids and the remaining 2% (if even that) goes to ministry expenses such as media costs (website maintenance, video, etc). The staff receive nothing from our ministries and must support raise separately."

5-2 Foundation receives 2.5% of the funds we raise for facilitating the fundraiser.

Thank You. Sincerely, Manuel Lara

UPDATE: We have exceeded our original goal of 20 million won! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed so far. But it's not too late to give! Let's see if we can hit 30 million now!

Details:
Dates: 2014 Chuseok weekend Sep 6-10 (Saturday to Wednesday)
Route: 4 Rivers Cycle Path from Busan to Seoul (riders will take the KTX to Busan, and the bikes will be sent via truck ahead of time). We'll cover approximately 120-135 km per day.
Worship and Prayer: Each night we'll have an optional worship and prayer meeting.  Sunday morning we will have an optional worship service before we depart for the day.
Cost:  Still TBD, but in the neighborhood of 120,000 - 150,000 plus money for meals.
Who:  Anyone who is cleared physically by a doctor to join and willing to train.  Novice to expert levels are welcome.  We are also in need of support crew volunteers.
Sign Up Deadline:  Cyclists and support crew volunteers should contact John Choi (johnchoi80@gmail.com) by June 15th.  After June 15th cyclists will be put on a waiting list.

Objectives:
1. Raise awareness about the injustice of human trafficking, especially sex trafficking, as well as the plight of orphans (high risk targets of pimps/traffickers) in Korea. Awareness is spread through each involved person's relationships, social circles and social networks - there will be daily updates as we bike from Busan to Seoul.
2. Raise funds for House of Hope (Korea's only gospel-centered restoration center for trafficked victims) and Oak Tree Project (college scholarship and mentoring program for true orphans).  We raise funds through our website www.rideagainsttraffick.org
3. Pray for leaders, laws, law enforcement, society/culture perspective, pimps/traffickers, johns, and victims. Pray for justice. Pray for churches and Christians to rise up, live out the gospel in caring for the orphans, marginalized, and oppressed.

Requirements:
1. A road bike or hybrid bike, front and rear lights, helmet. Biking shorts highly recommended.
2. Physical / doctor approval of health
3. Training - Cyclists must commit to ride 20 km 3x a week and to taking one longer ride per week.  We have a group that is already training in Seoul and the Incheon group will start next week.