And in Conclusion, Thank You — Walking People Out of Poverty

It’s that time when I have to acknowledge a number of people and thank them for their help. Walking the PCT is a huge undertaking and requires a tremendous amount of support. The problem is where to begin? After giving it a lot of thought I believe it makes most sense to start at the same point as where I commenced my walk, and that is at the beginning. At the outset I had so many questions and after doing a ton of research I decided to approach the official PCT Association. It was there that I met Chris Maier who was a huge resource, and no matter how busy he was would always respond to my emails and offer up suggestions and advice. I cannot thank Chris enough for providing his expertise. I have been in touch with Chris recently, to ask about getting back onto the trail next year, and was taken back by his news. Chris has been promoted to another position within the organization, and I have no doubt he will be every bit as successful as in his previous role, and I wish him every success. Before moving on it would be remiss if I didn’t say a little bit about the tremendous work the PCT does in maintaining the trails, and they are to be applauded for the terrific job they do. So I should thank all the volunteers for the great work they do.

Next up are a number of people from Opportunity International Canada, the charity that was the beneficiary of this walk. We live in an age of abundance, but also a time of great waste, and Opportunity International’s mandate is to eliminate global poverty. The organization believes this is best achieved by offering a hand up rather than a hand out. In 2014/15, during the inaugural Walking People out of Poverty, we raised a combined $230,000. This was achieved thanks to the great kindness of a number of people who “caught the vision “ of what we were trying to achieve. What I find incredible is how this original $230,000 has “grown”, thanks to a formula where funds are multipled when loans are repaid with interest and then reloaded out. The last time I looked this amount was approaching $600,000. Truly amazing!!! In the past Opportunity International has been lauded by illuminaries such as Bill Gates and Barack Obama’s. Opportunity International continues to go from strength to strength.

I would now like to thank two of my biggest champions, Doris Olafsen and her able assistant Jo-Anne Morris, from Opportunity International, and who have consistently provided encouragement and support over a number of years. Thank you so much ladies, you have no idea how much I have appreciated your being there for me. The working poor, that Opportunity International supports, could not ask for two more compassionate and caring people than Doris and Jo-Anne. Speaking of Opportunity International staff I would like to acknowledge Andrew MacDonald who was responsible for providing support in the creation and set up of my blog, and I want to extend my thanks to Andrew for a job well done. Lastly, but certainly not least, I want to thank Ed Temple, who until recently was Director of Philanthropy Alberta. Ed is fully deserving of my huge thanks for working with Andrew on setting up my blog, but also for showing me some neat “shortcuts” when blogging. Ed was also my go to guy when I had a problem. There were several very frustrating occasions when I experienced major problems. The worst was when I spent almost a full zero day blogging only to lose all of the words I had written when I went to post them. This put me well behind with my blog, and I was never, ever, able to get caught up. After this, whenever I had a blog ready to go, I texted Ed and he very kindly published my work. Ed, you are a star so please accept my sincere thanks for going the extra mile for me buddy.

The next person I want to acknowledge is my walking partner for the first month of my amazing journey. Tina Donkers, aka Medicine Woman, was a huge reason for me being on the PCT, and I doubt I would have undertaken this journey without Tina being there at the beginning. Tina was a dream walking partner and I will never be able to thank her enough for her friendship and kindness. Thank you Tina I really appreciate all that you did for me, and I look forward to doing it all over again next year. I would also thank all of the people I met along the trail, there are far too many to mention, but all the Trail Angels are to be applauded for the tremendous work they do. They really are the glue that hold everything together, and without them it would be an almost impossible task to walk the PCT.

I now must return to the darkest day of the hike, when I was forced to quit the trail due to my injury. So it gives me the greatest pleasure to say thank you to Van, who was the medic who provided me with expert care, the helicopter manager PJ and pilot supreme Jordan both of whom were extremely professional. I really cannot thank these guys enough for everything they did for me. Next up, are the amazing people who provided the utmost care and attention to my injury, and I will never be able to thank Dr. Acrostic and her able assistant Conrad Bacani for what they did for me. Even now I’m staggered by the incredible job they did in treating my leg wound. I have always had the utmost respect for the medical profession and Dr. Schrodt and Conrad are shining examples of what I’m talking about. Thank you so much guys, I really cannot thank you enough. Upon my return to Calgary, Liz, (more on Liz later), had very kindly arranged for a friend of hers to visit our home to change the dressing on my leg wound. Rachel is a nurse, and also a very accomplished body builder, who works out at the same gym as Liz. Rachel came over on the Saturday I returned home from my trip, to care for my wound and show Liz what to do, as from this point on Liz would be looking after me. Thanks to Rachel we discovered the Wound Clinic at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre and I was blown away by the treatment I received there . This care started with the ladies in reception, who were responsible for setting appointment’s and continued with the care givers in the clinic who were responsible for debriding my wound. For the uninitiated the treatment begins with a thorough cleaning of the wound and then the debriding process which involves the removal of dead skin in order for the wound to heal correctly. So, starting with the ladies up front I would say a huge thank you to Kathy, Neva, Joy and Erica for their bright, smiley faces and humour, you made it a great pleasure to visit the clinic for treatment. The actual care givers were, in no particular order, Muhammad, Lindsay A, Lindsay B, Louise, Dianna, Suzanne, Donna, Kelly, Jen and Melody, and they are all a credit to both their profession and the health facility they work for, so please accept a humongous thank you for all that you did for me. I will never forget it.

If i missed anyone please accept my humble apologies. I reserve my greatest thanks to the lady, who, without her love and support, made my journey possible. Liz doesn’t understand why, at my stage in life, I would want to go off into the wild in all sorts of inclement weather and sleep in a tent to boot. Having said all that, once Liz had wrapped her head around the idea her support was unwavering, and Liz will never truly understand how very much I appreciate all that she has done, and continues to do for me. Liz is my best friend, who makes my days so easy to enjoy, and I never tire of being with her. I’m extremely fortunate to have Liz in my life and cannot thank her enough for all that she does for me. I am extremely squeamish, and it’s only been in the last week or two that I have been able to look at my leg injury. Liz is also squeamish but took on the responsibility of treating my leg wound on a daily basis after being shown how by Rachel as previously mentioned above. Now that I have finished acknowledging and thanking everyone, and I pray to God I haven’t missed anyone, I’m eagerly looking forward to getting back on the trail next year, when I get to do it all over again, and hopefully this time I don’t experience the drama of May 31st, 2018, a day that will live with me forever. I’m very close to finishing and if you were one of the people who contributed to this very worthy cause I want to thank you, most sincerely, and please know how greatly I appreciate your support. If I’m being honest I was a little disappointed with how much was raised this year, especially in light of how much was raised previously, but I’m also a realist as I know we are living in very difficult times as a result of our economy. As a result would like to throw this idea out, or should it be a challenge, to anyone reading this blog. If you are interested in working with me, and the wonderful folks from Opportunity International, and have ideas on how we can be more successful in raising funds please let me know via my blog. Speaking of my blog, the lack of any comments was a major disappointment, as I loved to read people’s feedback when I blogged my way around the SW Coast Path in England in 2014/15. Not sure why people didn’t reach out this year, but I will continue blogging my way up the PCT next year and hope more people come along for the ride. Looking forward to doing it all over again next year and thanks for taking the time to read my blogs this year. Now stand by for the last of my pictures.