Three years ago, Paul and Doug Lavoie had a simple idea: “What can we do to give back to the community?” That question led to The Walk, an annual fundraising event held on Thanksgiving Monday in support of the Calgary Food Bank. “We always like to say that it’s about two guys who had an idea. Doug and I are two guys that thought we wanted to do something special for our community, so we developed the idea of a charity walk through the Calgary people,” Paul said. “What better organization than the Calgary Food Bank? What they do for all communities is just unbelievable, so if we can pull off something like this to show our support, we’re all in,” Doug added. The third edition of The Walk took place Monday morning, bringing the event’s total fundraising haul to $1.1 million in just three years. The event also includes a “Fill the Ford” initiative, which collects food donations from the community for the food bank. “It’s just in the spirit of what the Calgary Food Bank represents and how it is sort of driven with all the volunteer support. Same sort of thing here with The Walk, it’s just about the community coming together,” Doug said. “The Calgary Food Bank was started 44 years ago by the community, for the community. And to this very day, we really don’t receive government funding. We have 300 volunteers on site every day to help us feed the community, and initiatives like this really personify that,” added Calgary Food CEO Melissa From. From said the $1.1 million raised through The Walk will go a long way because of the food bank’s purchasing power. “That $1.1 million is almost $3.5 million worth of food going out the door into the fridges and pantries of our clients,” From said. From said demand continues to grow, with the food bank now serving 1,000 families a day. She said donations of this scale are especially helpful as food costs rise. “We saw the price of turkey go up by 10 per cent over a year. The price of carrots going up by almost 70 per cent in one year alone,” From said. The growing need inspired the Lavoies to launch The Walk. Three years later, they said they are surprised by how much the event has grown in such a short time. “Without the people showing up and giving food in the Ford, or giving a donation small or big, none of this could be possible,” Paul said. “It’s not just about the donations. It’s about the people pouring the coffee, it’s about the people cheering out on the course, it’s just creating such a wonderful sense of why we all should be thankful and grateful and just so proud of each and every person that’s out here today,” Doug added. The event wraps up with a dance party. The Lavoies said it gives participants a fun way to celebrate the community’s fundraising efforts.
