Against all odds, Rama DelaRosa takes the plunge to fundraise for Indigenous legal challenges to the Kinder Morgan pipeline
A Salt Spring woman is committed to stretch the limits of human capacity in the hope to improve the health of our ocean waters. Athlete and activist Rama DelaRosa is fiercely determined to protect this coast and uphold Indigenous rights. During the week of August 1st, Delarosa plans to swim around the entire perimeter of Salt Spring Island to raise money for the Pull Together campaign.
“I am in love with the Salish Sea! This swim is all about putting that love into action to create lasting change, real change, so that one day when future generations are showing their grandchildren a pod of orcas breaching they can think of me and all the people who came together at a critical time in history and saved our oceans from calamity,” said DelaRosa.
Funds raised will go to the legal challenges of the Tsleil Wautuh, Coldwater, and Squamish First Nations, who will be in court in October arguing that the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project threatens their traditional territories, and that the company failed to adequately consult First Nations who will be directly affected.
“The ocean is my habitat, and as a regular occupant and devoted admirer, I feel I have no other choice but to do everything in my power to protect our beloved Salish Sea,” says Delarosa. “The Salish Sea is already in peril, as many of you have noticed the disappearance of our Starfish. The 7 fold increase that KM is proposing would mean the virtual elimination of our resident Orcas. That loss would be inconceivable and impossible to recover from. We must all do our part to prevent this.”
The swim is being planned for the first week of August. DelaRosa’s route is roughly 100 kilometres and will take about a week to complete. Sponsors can pledge to support on a per-kilometre basis to a fundraising page set up at Pull Together thanks to an anonymous matching funds donor, every dollar contributed will be doubled. The goal? To raise $14,000 for Indigenous legal challenges.