TheWalk.ca 5K in Eau Claire raises over $300,000 for the Calgary Food Bank on Thanksgiving

Hundreds gathered at Eau Claire on a brisk Thanksgiving Monday to get their steps in before dinner for TheWalk.ca 5K.

This event first started three years ago as a concept to give back to the community, said co-founder Paul Lavoie.

“My partner, Doug, and I thought we could do something really great for the food bank, so we thought ‘what’s better than a 5k walk,'” he said. “All proceeds go to the food bank and right after the walk is the ‘Power Hour,’ which is an outdoor dance party to end the celebration today.”

This is the third consecutive walk and the event raised over $300,000.

He appreciated seeing Calgarians participate in this year’s event since it reflected the generosity of the community.

“Having almost 800 people show up today shows that people will make time, are thankful, want to give and want to become part of our community in a way that they can,” Lavoie said.

Over three years, over $1.1 million was raised in support of the Calgary Food Bank and the walk was a great way to burn off some of the weekend pumpkin pie and turkey, said president and CEO Melissa From.

The food bank was approached to be the benefactors of the walks four years ago after Doug’s 50th birthday, she said.

“(Doug) wanted to run 50 marathons and through that he wanted to raise funds for the Calgary Food Bank,” From said. “That was 4 years ago, they did that and exceeded the raising target quite a bit. Then the following year, after turning 51, he just couldn’t let things lie. Thus the walk was born and here we are 3 years later.”

All the money raised from the event goes a long way to help feed the nearly 1,000 families that rely on the food bank, From said.

For every dollar raised, the food bank can distribute a little over $3 dollars worth of food.

“So raising $1.1 million really means that close to $3.5 million worth of food is going to go out the door and into the pantries, refrigerators and dinner tables of those families that need it the most,” From said.

After 44 years in the community, From hopes Calgarians consider giving back to families in need over the holiday season.

Anyone looking to donate or volunteer is encouraged to visit www.calgaryfoodbank.com for more information.

Cameron Martin and Glyndwr Merriman strut their stuff along the five kilometre stretch of the walk.

“Gobble,” Martin said on why they decided to participate in this year’s walk.

They are big supporters of Paul and Doug, and they appreciate the impact they’ve had on the community, said “turkey translator” Merriman.

“We also have been involved with the food bank a lot, so we love whenever we get the chance to be involved and just make a difference in the community,” Merriman said.

They said their outfit choice was festive, in-season and brought a lot of energy for the event.

It was a great feeling taking pictures with kids and families and they wanted to support the event in whatever capacity.

“When the food bank told us they had these costumes, we had to say yes,” Merriman said.” We definitely couldn’t pass up that opportunity.”

They both believe that the event does amazing work for the community and it’s amazing to see how it raised over a million dollars.

“We’ve been in Calgary for a while, and I love to be part of these opportunities and that they give opportunities for people to make a difference,” Merriman said. “That’s really valuable to me and I know it is for a lot of people, so it’s really good to see.”

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