An initiative to help Canadian veterans experiencing or approaching homelessness made its way to Windsor and Essex County last week as the Ruck 2 Remember movement held their annual Road to Recovery walk, raising funds along the way.
In its 12-year existence, the Road to Recovery walk has raised over $1 million in support of Canadian veterans in need and covered over 2,600 kilometres.
The ruck moves around Ontario, and this year Windsor-Essex was chosen. The ruck began on Thursday, September 11 at Branch 644 in Windsor as the walkers made their way to Amherstburg Branch 157 and Kingsville Branch 188 before moving on to Comber Branch 241 and then to Chatham.
Members of the Ruck 2 Remember were hosted each night by the area Legion branches and continued their walk the next day.
At Kingsville, a packed house jammed the Branch in conjunction with a fish fry dinner, where the ruckers were greeted after their 42 km trek from Amherstburg along the shores of Lake Erie.
Branch 188 President James Raposo welcomed the ruckers along with Essex Legion President Dave Renaud and Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers. The two Legion representatives then presented Ruck 2 Remember’s Ontario founder Leno DiJulio with cheque donations totalling over $11,000.
DiJulio, of Hamilton, was pleased with the local reaction in this area. He was joined on the walk by seven dedicated members who made their way along the route.
“It’s a beautiful area and we couldn’t be more pleased with the reception we’ve received,” he said. “We’ve helped over 1,300 veterans, which includes 150 since last year.”
Ruck 2 Remember participants were joined by Essex Legion President Dave Renaud, left, Kingsville Legion President James Raposo, right, and Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers, third from right, in a celebratory photo after the perch dinner honouring their arrival.
SUN photo by Mark Ribble
