Natasha Carvalho (left) with the Medicine Hat Women's Shelter Society is presented a donation of $13,372 from Sarah MacKenzie on Thursday - Photo by Charles Lefebvre

By Charles Lefebvre

Smile Sunday

Journey through Sahara Desert brings over $13,000 to Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter

Feb 9, 2020 | 6:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A Medicine Hat woman’s trek through the Sahara Desert last year has resulted in a significant donation to the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society.

Sarah MacKenzie donated $13,372 to the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society on Thursday.

“I’m extremely proud and honoured to have been given the opportunity,” she said. “It was a very humbling and life-changing experience, and I hope this kind of stuff can help make a difference for those individuals and children in need of the women’s shelter and their programs.”

In November, MacKenzie, along with 120 Royal LePage workers, travelled to Morocco for the Sahara Desert Challenge for Shelter. The group trekked more than 100 kilometres across the Sahara Desert over five days.

“We hiked every day anywhere from 22 to 28 kilometres in 35 (degrees Celsius) above heat,” MacKenzie said. “It was bit gruelling, but it was a very amazing experience.”

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Every day during the trek, MacKenzie and those on the trek would read a letter from somebody who accessed a women’s shelter, which she said kept them going.

“Especially during the afternoons, you would start thinking about that, and how powerful the support can be,” she said.

Natasha Carvalho, executive director with the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter, says the money will be placed in the shelter’s endowment fund.