Leading up to October 1st and October 4, 2025, I'm fundraising in the Ride (and walk!) for Refuge in solidarity with immigrants, migrants and refugees who need our support! This year is very special as I will be accompanied by many students from my third year course CRM 360: Criminalizing Global Migration as well as the Criminology Course Union, the representative body of TMU Criminology students. 

We will be doing this in support of FCJ Refugee Centre, a grassroots organization whose work I have had the honour to see up close over more than a decade as a volunteer, fundraiser and collaborator on multiple meaningful initiatives with youth and the community at York and Toronto Metropolitan Universities.

I am also participating in honour and memory of my dear friend - and pillar of the migrant and refugee-serving community - Francisco Rico-Martinez who we lost far too soon to a battle with cancer four years ago in 2021. I know that the centre will use any funds to support his and his colleagues’ long-held vision of a grassroots, migrant led organization that walks in solidarity with uprooted people. Francisco was the co-director and co-founder of the FCJ Refugee Centre along with his partner Loly Rico. He was the first refugee president of the Canadian Council for Refugees and tireless advocate for human rights. I would be thrilled if you would consider joining my fundraising team, or making a donation to my efforts in support of the centre.

You can donate directly to my walk/ride at http://ride.w-ith.me/jc4fcj

I am also walking with my family to raise awareness with other civil society members to STOP BILL- C-2, the socalled “Strong Borders” Act – a bill the centre and its partners are front and centre in combatting  - https://www.fcjrefugeecentre.org/2025/06/stop-bill-c-2/ .

FCJ Refugee centre is home to a nation-leading youth group, a legal support program for refugees and undocumented persons, a health clinic for those without coverage, and provides housing for refugee women and children, to cite just a few initiatives from their 30 years of existence.

If you would like to learn more about Francisco and his legacy, please see these beautiful tributes by friends and colleagues:

Requiem For Francisco Rico-Martinez, The Peaceful Revolutionary In Canadian Immigration - https://www.revistadebate.net/requiem-for-francisco-rico-martinez-the-peaceful-revolutionary-in-canadian-immigration/

Francisco Martinez arrived as a refugee and devoted his life to helping others make a home in Canada, too-  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-francisco-martinez-arrived-as-refugee-and-devoted-his-life-to-helping/

Please consider joining us in this effort to support Francisco’s legacy, the centre’s work and join us on October 4th!