Welcome to Alberta

Breyden crossed the BC/Alberta border yesterday!

He has now crossed through one entire province on his trek across the country.  According to my calculations  he will surpass 900 kilometers today as well.  They spent the night in Lake Louise and are heading out soon to continue on to Banff.

Here is the plan for the next few days:

May 12 - Banff

May 13 - Canmore

May 16 - Calgary

We are busy working on some fundraising events for Calgary and other cities in Alberta.  He is out there every day walking, trying hard to raise the $323,323.00 he has set as his goal so any help in spreading the word is appreciated.  Feel free to share this blog.  He is Breyden Walken Erickson on Facebook if you want to friend him.

Oh yea.  Leave a comment and I will pass it along to Breyden if you want.  How did you hear about his walk? Where are you from?

Thanks everyone.

Click here to make a donation

To financially support the CrossCanadaCure:
CIBC transit # 00250 account # 83-68694

Last night in BC

Almost in the dead center of Yoho National Park is the small village of Field BC; Breyden's camp for the night and his last stay in BC. Tomorrow he is expect to cross the border into Alberta.  I can't believe he has almost completed crossing the entire province... on foot!!  He is so committed to this and doing his best every day to try to make people aware and to reach his target goal. But for that he needs your help.  Please donate and help find a cure.

Donate to the Canadian Cancer Society

Golden BC

Well so much has happened in the past 2 days.  Reports coming in from Breyden and the support crew are that it's been pretty hectic in Golden for the past few days.  When I texted him yesterday he indicated there were a lot of meetings planned for today and he wasn't kidding.  There is lots going on!!

Breyden with his grandparents at Golden

So after a 15 kilometer walk to Golden yesterday, Breyden stopped in at the Information Center where he was greeted and interviewed by the manager of the center, Lynne Romano.  She was excited to meet Breyden and wants to be able to relay his fundraising story to visitors.  She will also be posting the full interview on their facebook page.  I'll put up a link to that later so you can be sure to 'like' Golden. 

Then the team headed off to get the RV registered and set up at the Whispering Spruce Campground.  After  hearing what Breyden's walk was all about the manager, Pat, offered to donate to the trip expenses by providing a free night's lodging at the RV park.  I took a browse though their photo gallery on the web page.  It is a beautiful park, and they have most amazing lawnmower I've ever seen. Check it out on their web site. Whispering Spruce Campground.

Breyden with Pat, the manager of Whispering Spruce

Today was even more eventful it seems.  Breyden met with the Mayor of Golden, Christina Benty and had a chance to talk with her for a while about his walk and his plan to raise funds for cancer research. Despite having just returned from a course and having a lot of work to catch up she still took the time to meet with Breyden and  welcome the whole team to Golden.

Meeting with Golden's Mayor Christina Benty

After that, another interview and some photographs with Darryl Crane, the Editor of The Golden Star. I'm looking forward to reading his interview in the next edition.

The management of the local A&W in Golden heard about what he was doing and provided lunch for Breyden and the support team.  I must say that I am really amazed at the generosity and interest expressed by so many local merchants in all the towns Breyden is visiting. So many people are helping out by contributing accommodation, meals or even making cash donations along the way.  There are some expenses incurred along the way to keep Breyden walking and every bit helps and is truly appreciated by all.

But the message that Breyden most wants to get out there is that he is doing this to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society to help find a cure for cancer. He has a good friend who is  affected by this disease, as do I  and as does almost everyone. Cancer is still far too present in our lives. If you can, please donate.

Every amount donated here goes directly to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Almost Golden

Breyden is about 10 kilometers away from Golden. It has been 3 days since Revelstoke with Saturday being a 33.5 km day.  His grandparents are with him and providing the comfort of the motor home and company at night.  The weather has been very hot during the day and included some rain showers. Tomorrow he will arrive in Golden.

Podio Sponsorship

There is a small but dedicated team of people, mostly his family, working behind the scenes to help make Breyden's walk a success.   At first e-mailing, texting and phoning each other worked to keep everyone updated on the progress of each task, event, interview or conversation  ... for about a week.  But very quickly it became evident that phone calls and e-mails were not a very efficient way of communicating and coordinating everyone's progress on the multitude of tasks involved. In-boxes quickly overflowed.

Breyden\s Aunt Diane uses Podio at her workplace and approached them to see if they would be willing to provide us with access to use their software with a charitable event membership. They were quick to agree and so for the past few weeks we have been using Podio's online Project Management and CRM software to keep organized of all the activities around Breyden's walk. 

Now Podio has upgraded the account to full premium access to all of it's features and officially become Breyden's first sponsor.  

With the power of Podio, our free CRM platform, our team can effectively work together from anywhere, to escape email overload, alleviate document chaos and much more. Get structured with Podio's easily modified workspaces and apps, so you and your team can work the way you want to.

Back on the Road

Breyden and his entourage are heading of of Revelstoke today.  After a rest and the return of his wallet Breyden is all set to resume his walk.  His Grandparents, Norma and Al, have generously decided to get their motor home (which the family affectionately calls 'The Mother Ship') road ready for a long trip this time and will be following Breyden along as a support vehicle.  While he still will be walking about 30 kilometers a day, Breyden will at least have a comfortable bed and good food each night. Thanks so much mom and dad for your generosity.  This will make it much easier for him as well as he will not have to be carrying his extremely heavy backpack every step of the way.

They also had some banners made up to attach to the outside of the motor home to announce Breyden's Cross Canada Cure 2013 to passersby .  Funding for this was donated by local a local merchant and his Grandparents and other assistance by some of the local church members.  More details on that soon.
If you are interested in helping out with the expenses to support Breyden, you can do so through any CIBC or online banking to his CIBC account

CIBC transit #00250  Account #83-68694

Here's a picture of Breyden with one of the Banners for the motor home.  I'll have some more pics soon.

Donations to Canadian Cancer Society can be made here

....... and found

Great news.  The wallet turned up with all his bank cards and ID etc all intact.  Breyden is quite relieved as are all his friends and family.  So, today marks the start of the next leg of his of his walk.  It's May 1. A new month, better weather lies ahead and with a bit of a rest and a whole lot of experience gained he is ready to start out again. Breyden and the whole team supporting him are relieved, recharged and ready to hit the road.  Well, almost. One more day to get things reorganized and then the support vehicle will be all set and decked out with its...  oops, almost said to much.  You'll have to come back to see the exciting new addition.

Just a quick shout out to Mr. and Mrs. Moore of Salmon Arm, franchise owners of the Tim Hortons in Salmon Arm and surrounding areas. They were kind enough to provide Breyden's lunch and some advice and support for the trip. There have been a lot of such people along the way who have stopped to help out in similar ways or make cash donations to Breyden directly.  I will try to acknowledge these people more in upcoming posts.

Check back tomorrow.  It's a big day with a big reveal.....