Getting to the Olympics takes determination, but also requires money to pay for equipment, international travel and hours of training.

That's why five Canadian athletes from the Toronto area were standing on a corner in the heart of Toronto's financial district Tuesday morning.

At their feet were change buckets, in their hands were post-card flyers, and their goal was to promote Canadian Athletes Now Fund. The grassroots charity has raised over $6 million since it was founded 10 years ago by Jane Roos, the Fund's executive director.

"The fund is becoming very athlete driven, and that's really what I wanted to create," says Roos. "They've really taken it upon themselves."

She says the flyers she is handing out were made Monday by a team of Olympic rowers.

The flyers are for the "$8 for 08.08.08" campaign, which asks Canadians to donate $8, and tell eight friends to donate $8 as well.

The organization takes the donations and distributes them through an application process. Athletes can apply for funding twice a year. With each application, they can receive up to $6,000, which helps them cover the costs of competing.

"The fund helps to cover a lot of the expenses that we have to endure," says Rosannagh MacLennan of the Canadian trampoline team. "With all the qualifying competitions leading up to the Olympics, many of them are international, so it does take a lot to try and get there, and make your dreams come true."

With the Summer Olympics this August in Beijing, Roos acknowledges that funding for the athletes is "an easier sell." But she says Canadians don't necessarily know they can donate directly to the athletes, or what the money is used for.

'Crunch time' for athletes

The fund has to support over 300 athletes, and volunteer Jessica Paquin says, "It's crunch time.

"There are athletes that have three or four jobs to try to get to the Olympics. They've done everything they can and they don't have the money to pay for their plane ticket to get there [to Beijing]."

While standing on the corner for two hours Tuesday morning, the athletes, including archer John David Burnes, gave out more than 2,000 postcards.

Burnes is firm in his resolve to go to Beijing, even though he has faced difficulty in funding this dream.

"It's tough, but if you want to go, you're going to do everything in your power to go."