50 Days, 5 km, $1,600: Shawna Ryan pounds the pavement for Saskatoon Food Bank

When Saskatoon Paralympian Shawna Ryan crossed the finish line on Saturday it marked more than running five kiolmetres every day for 50 days.

It was also the day before her 50th birthday, and the effort also saw the former national goalball team member and para cyclist raise over $1600 for Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre.

The fundraiser which began on Sept. 28 meant Ryan, who is legally blind, ran 250,000 km — around 13 km shorter than the distance between Saskatoon and Regina.

Ryan said inspiration for her running came from a friend.

“She started a food bank fundraiser for her 50th birthday, running 50 kilometers on her birthday,” said Ryan. “I decided to run 5k for the 50 days leading up to my birthday instead.”

Ryan said her goal was to bring awareness to the Food Bank and the work it does in the community.

“I’m hoping we can de-stigmatize, educate and get people to give back to the community they live in,” said Ryan.

“It’s not us and them, I want to be part of it being everyone working together.”

Ryan said helping the food bank was important given how many people are struggling with the cost of living right now.

“A lot of people are having hard times making ends meet,” said Ryan. “I think that a lot of people who needed the food bank never thought they would need the food bank. These are just meeting the basic needs of our community so people can thrive and grow.”

Ryan said the amount of support she’s seen on her runs have been heartwarming.

“It’s extremely touching, I can’t say enough about how much it means to me,” said Ryan about the show of support.

“It’s really hard to feel inspired some days, there’s a lot of darkness in the world (and) a lot of sadness.”

Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre Executive Director Laurie O’Connor, said it’s been wonderful to follow Ryan’s journey.

“Her understanding of a shared responsibility around poverty and food insecurity in the community, her focus and her outlook on life is so wonderful .. that has really spread across our organization.”

The holiday season is also approaching and O’Connor said the funds can help the ood bank better serve the community.

“Lots of folks are struggling out there and I think that will only get worse as we head towards the holidays,” said O’Connor. “

The Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre serves almost 8,000 clients each month and welcomes donations of items like baby food and formula, canned fruits and vegetables, hearty soups and stews, whole grain pasta and cereals, canned protein, and peanut butter.

Find information on donating goods or money to the Food Bank here.

— with files from Will Mandzuk

Read more:

• BHP makes $500,000 donation to Saskatoon Food Bank
• Sask. still affordable for housing but has ‘significant’ inventory crunch
• Rent inflation to slow in the next few years, Desjardins predicts