Jillian Michaels walks 100 miles to raise money for South Sudanese Refugees

MotivationJuly 9, 2019

Jillian Michaels, the fitness expert of MyFitnessApp, is set to walk for 100 miles to raise money for South Sudanese Refugees. Jillian is determined to convert the distance into financial aid and is recruiting people to join the cause. This is just one of the community projects which the famous trainer has undertaken in the recent past.

Her passion for activism started back in 2016 when she wanted to show support to a fitness client who was shooting a movie called Refugee. There, Jillian learned more about the world-wide refugee crisis and felt she had to do something to help.

To educate herself on this issue and figure out the best plan to help, Michaels self-funded a mission to Congo to meet with South Sudanese refugees. She spent three days and three nights in the camp and got in touch with the real issues.

The former Biggest Loser trainer talked to people to understand what they needed and how the available funds are spent. During this mission, she discovered that Congo needs $30 – 40 million to provide life support for over 95,000 refugees. Currently, the country has about 12% of the necessary funds, and we do mean necessary; All this money is essential to provide fundamental needs like food, clean water, medical supplies, and education.

Her new awareness to the issue deeply affected the 45-year-old. But encouraging people to donate money on her social media platforms wasn’t enough for her. Jillian partnered up with the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) and initiated the program Step with Jillian. She commits to walk 100 miles during July to raise the necessary funds. Each person joining and pledging at least $15, will get free access to her app for a month. However, Michaels is hoping that each person entering the program will raise at least $100.

“Refugees end up having to walk millions of miles every year to get to safety,” Jillian explains. “The idea is raising awareness by walking with them in solidarity.”