Sarah Kammerer's Fundraising Page
UPDATE: I have raised my goal to $5,000. Thank you for your support, I could not do this without you.
A special thank you to my brother, Drew Leety, who's company, Sapient, donated $1000 to ALLY.
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Michelle Yi and I were offered charity slots to run the 2009 Boston Marathon for the ALLY Foundation. The Ally Foundation’s mission "is to prevent opportunities for violent sex offenses, to educate the public and advocate for necessary changes in culture, attitude and policy".
The ALLY Foundation is named after Alexandra (Ally) Zapp, a 30 year old woman whose life was tragically cut short when she was brutally raped and murdered at a New England rest stop in 2002. She was attacked by a man who had recently been released from state prison after being convicted on 24 counts including rape and kidnapping.
The statistics are staggering. It is estimated that 84% of sexual crimes go unreported. If, convicted, and that’s a big if, only 21% serve jail time and the average term is 11 months. 99% of convicted offenders return to the community in spite of the danger to re-offend and more often than not, get lost in the system. While legislation has been passed for states to set up sex offender registries and provide the public with information about their crimes and whereabouts, states do not have enough time, money or flexibility to implement these laws. Further, funding for these programs have been drastically cut, so there is little or no incentive for states to participate.
As part of my commitment to be on the ALLY Foundation team, I have promised to raise $3,000. The funds raised by myself and the rest of Team ALLY will benefit the ALLY Foundation's research and to help them expand their cause nationwide. Please visit the Ally Foundation website at www.theallyfoundation.org for additional details surrounding this vital organization and their mission to not only raise awareness of this problem but to change our laws and court system in how we deal with repeat sexual offenders.